We sometimes forget about the little creatures. Having flamingos and turtles around, no one watches the tiny hermit crabs that are abundant on both Floreana Island beaches. Their minute tracks are everywhere, both on the inorganic beach where we land and on the white organic beach at the end of our afternoon walk.

I grew up on the Galapagos Islands and as a child I was obsessed with those tiny crustaceans. We used to organize hermit crab raises after school. We looked for the largest and the most hyperactive one. The child "owner" of the slowest crab had to buy ice cream for the others. We had great fun in those days! We grew up without TV or cars, so we learned to enjoy everything around us.

When I see a hermit crab I go back to my childhood. I don't play with them anymore; I am just amazed by the fact that they discard small shells for larger ones as they increase in size. They protect their soft abdomen by living in abandoned gastropod shells. The one on the picture is the semi-terrestrial hermit crab, Coenobita compressus, common in mangrove- fringed sandy areas.

So, start looking at the little details in life, it's great fun!