Tag Archives: galapagos

Galapagos Day 7: El Manzanillo + Plaza Sur

We started out with a zodiac ride to Santa Cruz, then a bus ride to Rancho El Manzanillo. Which is a big plot of private land where tortoises can hang out.

Our bus had to stop a couple times to let tortoises cross the road. I imagine a road is easier to walk on than grass, even as a tortoise.

A tortoise! They make dinosaur noises if you startle them. (oops)

There’s a lake/pond/body of water covered in a red and green water plant.

And tortoises hang out in it.

And there’s a restaurant and some tortoise shells. Jonny is in one, for scale.

In the afternoon, a walk around Plaza Sur

The island had a lot of land iguanas. Like this one.

They’re very colorful.

A sea lion. How do they get to these places?

And some baby marine iguanas that happened to be cuddling nearby.

Flomp! Naptime by the cliff.

Plaza Sur’s landscape features a lot of cacti and succulents.

And we needed a Pokeflute. Sleeping mommy and baby sea lions blocked our path.

Galapagos Part 6: Bahia Gardner + Punta Suarez

Day six! All on Española Island.
We did a 7:30 kayaking session where we got pretty close to some sea lions (they seemed to be playing with some of the other kayaks in our group), a sea turtle and some swimming (from rock to rock) marine iguanas.

In theory there’s a timelapse of this kayaking outing. I haven’t put it together yet though.

Afterward, we lazed around on the beach… (Bahia Gardner)

There were a bunch of sea lions. Including this one that rolled itself in sand.

A lizard that apparently grew a new tail at some point.

A beach?

And a whale skeleton that had been left there. And, I assume, positioned.

I snorkeled out from the beach, and there weren’t many fish, but there was a family (one big one, two small ones) of stingrays. I swam awayyyyy when they seemed to notice me. (I didn’t wear flippers. I felt slow.)

In the afternoon, we did a “long” walk around Punta Suarez.

As soon as we got off the zodiac, there were marine iguanas everywhere.

And a bird. I’m not sure what kind.

The iguanas cuddle! (probably for warmth… but still)

A lava lizard hanging out on a rock.

The view? Lots of rocks. Spot the sea lions.

Here are some rocks on the beach. The texture reminds me of beef stew meat. Right when it’s almost raggedy.

A Galapagos albatross! Also known as the waved albatross.

Another albatross. Their heads are such a rich creamy color.

And they do a hilarious mating dance. They fence, then head bob, then fence some more.

More view. On the left side, our guide, Yvonne Torres.

A juvenile Galapagos hawk. SO ROUND.

Galapagos Part 5: La Galapaguera + Punta Pitt

Day 5, in the morning we took a zodiac, then bus ride to La Galapaguera, a breeding center/sanctuary for the island tortoise.

Here’s a tortoise egg. Marked with an X so that the folks who run the center can tell which side of the egg was up in the nest. (If you rotate the egg, apparently it dies)

The view of San Cristobal when we arrived.

The rare (not at all) sea lion. They’re everywhere.

In the afternoon, we went for a “less talk, more walk” hike at Punta Pitt. There was still lots of talking, but also scenery unlike anything else we’d seen so far.

We seemed to be hiking around a bunch of mountains.

We could see goats on the ridge line. Goats are an introduced species and the park is trying to eradicate them.

Parts of the hike were a little steep… But not scary.

There were a couple nests in the middle of the trail. These birds are fearless.

A view of the ocean at the edge of the island.

I thought this hike was the most “fun” of all the hikes we did. Not the most wildlife, but pretty awesome landscapes. The rock is super, super soft though. Not at all climbable.

Galapagos Part 4: Rabida + Santa Cruz

Arnold: i can only imagine if “On the Origin of Species” had been written by you instead of Darwin

“Fig 18: Variations in cuteness of bird butts correlated with cuteness of local flora”

In the morning — a hike around Rabida, followed by some snorkeling (pictures from that to come later…)

The view of our boat from the beach.

A Galapagos hawk in flight — it’s tagged!

Fat bird with a red hat (vermillion fly catcher)

In the afternoon, we took a zodiac around Eden Inlet to look for sharks and rays. They’re pretty hard to see in the water.

Some fishermen (maybe sea cucumber?) hanging out.

Small unpuffed pufferfish

I swear this looked more like a shark in person…

One stop animal rock — pelicans, sea lions, sally crabs & marine iguanas.

Galapagos Part 3: North Seymour + Sullivan Bay

The morning in North Seymour:
We went on a leisurely walk to look at frigates, blue footed boobies, and iguanas and, as always, sea lions.

And the famous blue footed booby is on this island! Wooo.

Two lizards trying to eat each other. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a lava lizard, but I’m not sure what it is.

This land iguana started following our group as we walked down the beach, when I turned around, it flattened itself and closed its eyes. I guess it could pretend I wasn’t there?

These birds are hilarious looking.

SO CUTE. Galapagos sea lion — smaller cousins of the California sea lion.

Puff. Male frigate hanging out.

Male frigate flying around.

This is what most of the island seems to look like.

I didn’t get a picture of the booby dance, but I got one of head scratches!

And, as usual, the Galapagos isn’t a lush paradise. It’s covered in poop.

Then the afternoon in Sullivan Bay, Santiago:
We took a zodiac out to look for a penguin colony, then went on a hike across the lava flow (It’s 100-150ish years old, so fairly “recent”)

A Galapagos penguin!

And a funny looking one that’s molting. Looks like its wearing a fur hat…

Blue heron

A sally crab eating its buddy…

Apparently lava can look like cake batter

Or noodles

Or… I don’t even know what this looks like.

Cinder cones from a distance

Galapagos Part 2: Genovesa

Day 1! The guests were split up into two groups, and went on two different activities, then switched in the afternoon.

My morning was the exploration of Prince Philip’s Steps. The internet indicated that it the steps would be steep and hiking poles necessary… but not really. I think my mom mostly used her poles for waving.

First up, a red-footed booby hangout in the tree right after we finished climbing up the steps to the island.

And a nazca booby and it’s chick. The chicks look so derpy. After this picture, the chick proceeded to try to attack someones walking stick, then my shoe. I guess mom wasn’t feeding it enough.

A close up of the chick, after it attacked my shoe.

Nazca booby taking off. Bird butts!

This would have been a cool picture if I could aim.

I forgot what this little guy is called. Oops.

The trails are all marked, so you know where you’re allowed to walk.

This nazca booby was still breathing. Asleep I guess?

I guess being a baby frigate bird can be depressing? So sad looking!

Lava cacti! A pioneer plant that prepares soil for future plants. These were pretty cute. (Yes, I think plants are cute)

Some nazca boobys getting it on. It lasted a few seconds.

Why bring a macro if you don’t stare intently at birds?

In case you thought the Galapagos was a lush rainforest… Nope.

And a sea turtle Jonny spotted from our room while I was taking a shower. I totally thought he was trolling me when he started yelling “turtle! turtle!” but when I finished showering, it was still there.

In the afternoon, we went to Darwin Bay.

Here’s a lava gull.

And a sally crab. Our guide, Jairo, said you’re not allowed to eat them anymore, but they didn’t have much meat, so they weren’t great anyway. Darnit.

The park rules weren’t always so strict. The Ecuadorian navy used to have traditions of graffiti-ing parts of the archipelago.

A little stingray! Hanging out a couple feet from the edge of the water.

Cacti living right next to the ocean. These ones have softer spines too.

Baby frigate & a parent.

Sea lion faces.

A darwin finch.

Red footed booby going bwaaaaaagh. They sound like dinosaurs.

Galapagos Part 1: Baltra

Baltra, the island that houses one of the Galapagos’ two airports

Last week, we celebrated my mom’s birthday by visiting the Galapagos with Silversea Expeditions. I didn’t bring a laptop, so here’s my attempt at catching up on notes & cleaning up my photography.

Day one, we flew into Baltra (from Guyaquil, from Quito, from Miami, from San Francisco) where we took a short bus ride, then a Zodiac to our home for the next week — the Silver Galapagos. On board, we met the staff, the guides & did a life vest drill. Then ate a bunch and slept.

raccoon*

adventures of a cosmic procyonid