Why, They’ll Sleep on Anything!
The two things you hear about the Galapagos before going are: The animals are everywhere, and they are unafraid! Sure enough, both are true. We never really had to walk far, hide behind bushes for hours, or be silent. We actually had to walk over them sometimes. They were all in plain sight, and they […]
A Swim with Sea Lions
These are a few videos taken by Mike Rexon, a fellow traveler who graciously allowed me to post here. I believe Mike used a GoPro. The grace of these animals in the water is simply wondrous. In the first video, the sea lion appears to be playing with a school of fish. The fish probably […]
And Then There Are The Sally Lightfoots
One of the more colorful creatures we saw was the Sally Lightfoot crab. They were on every rocky, windy shoreline we came across and stood out spectacularly against the black lava rock. Generally, if there were a few, there were dozens. Apparently, there is some confusion about these guys. There is a similar crab elsewhere […]
And Eduardo Dreams of His Ex’s
Oh, Eduardo, what’s not to love about Eduardo, our Galapagos guide? Eduardo is smart, knowledgeable, funny, enthusiastic, and passionate about wildlife. More, he never (to our knowledge) made stuff up! He speaks English fluently but with a slow, almost tilting and charming Italian accent. Always “on,” he was there to answer any question at any […]
Cool Dudes and Hot Chicks
Up earlier than usual (how is that even possible?), we headed out in the pangas under dark grey clouds towards Black Turtle Cove on Santa Cruz Island—a red mangrove lagoon accessible only by panga. Because there is no landing site, we slowly motored around the lagoon and up some of the larger channels as it […]
Mating Frenzy!
On North Seymour Island, we came upon a colony of the Magnificent frigatebirds. Like voyeurs, we watched as they performed their rather comical and noisy mating rituals. These are the birds we see performing their aerial acrobatics from our boat each day, threatening our clean laundry hung out to dry on the top deck. Basically, […]
Life and Death
It is always difficult to stand by and watch injured or starving animals suffer in a natural environment. Like most other wildlife parks, the Galapagos National Park has a strict policy of non-interference except when trying to save critically endangered animals and plants from extinction (as is the case with all the remaining giant tortoise […]
If It’s Saturday, It Must Be Iguana Day
Everything you read about the abundant and unafraid wildlife on the Galápagos Islands is true. I didn’t really “get it” until our first day when we visited Santa Fe Island. Motoring up to the beach for our first wet landing, we were surrounded by barking, frolicking Galápagos sea lions. They were everywhere—some sleeping on the […]
Dry or Wet Landing, Eduardo?
To move from our ship, the Tip Top II, to the various islands and back, we use pangas, small motorized rubber boats. There are two of them on the ship that transport the 15 of us and our guide, Eduardo. There’s a real art to getting on and off a panga. Basically, you step from […]
Poor Lonesome George
We left Quito early to catch our morning flight to Galapagos. Before even checking in, our bags had to be scanned for any fresh fruits, seeds, nuts—anything that might be harmful to the environment there. They work hard to keep non-native species from even getting to the islands. With the ever-increasing tourism industry, this is […]