Galapagos, the famous islands of Darwin and Lonesome George. A chain of young volcanic islands where wildness still reigns. Not a lot of places live up to heavy expectations, but the Galapagos definitely do. It's a unique place on the planet.
We stayed on Isla Santa Cruz, in the largest human settlement in the islands (Puerto Ayora, pop. 30,000). There were still pelicans and sea lions feeding at the fish market and iguanas swimming off the rocks. We took day trips to surrounding islands and stops on Santa Cruz. Here's a view of our favorite shots.
Plaza Islands
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| A panaramic view from North Plaza Island |
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| The island was covered in cactus, red succulents, and salty rocks. The iguanas eat the cactus fruit and leaves for water. The sea lions have shined some of the rocks with their oily secretions. None of the animals cares much when small bands of humans come around. |
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| Swallow tail gulls, who mate for life |
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Sally Light Foot crabbed, so named after a dancer from Haiti that a sailor once knew. Such is the human footprint on these islands.
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really
need
some moisturizer
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| Baby boat safety |
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| Baby revenge |
Seymour Island: The isla of birds...lots and lots of birds.
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blue footed boobies
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| Blue footed booby nest. Their young chicks are all white and fluffy. They protect their nests from parasites with an impenetrable ring of acidic bird poop. Natural selection in action. |
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| Seymour Island is also inhabited by frigate birds, scavengers with huge black wings. They too have their vulnerabilities though... |
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...Primarily the males are prone to ridiculous behavior.
I just inflate my neck sack and the ladies come flying in
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| A comfortable nest for Darwin finches |
Mosquera (a small beach island and sea lion hang out near Seymour)
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sea lions sleeping one off
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Tortuga Bay is on Santa Cruz and you walk on a 2 km path through a cactus forest to get there. The path opens up to a rough Pacific ocean- the waves just crash in constantly with no break between them. Not great for swimming. Good habitat for marine iguanas though. Another km or so down the beach and there is a bay surrounded by mangroves where the water is calm and beautifully blue. We swam there with A, later found out that in a kayak you can explore out into the mangroves and find all the sharks and large manta rays.
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marine iguana party
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plantain chips on the beach
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A loves the water
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and the sand
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The famous gigantic land tortoises of the Galapagos. Lonesome George, a really old big turtle, died a few years ago and is regarded as an elder statesman. He has a stamp. Theses guys are his friends, enemies, lesser-known comrades.
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| A tortoise barreling through the grass. |
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