Galapagos Trip May 2012

We took some time, just before I headed home for the summer (Chile's winter).  We took off for the Galapagos Islands, one of the places on both our "bucket lists".  We had a great boat, and met some terrific people.  You don't meet slouches and couch potatoes on a cruise in the Galapagos.  All very outgoing and outdoors oriented people.  All had done a lot of interesting travelling and made for interesting table mates, over dinner.

 

 

This was our cast...all great people. We're heading off for one of our adventures.

 

 

This was our very large cabin...pardon the clutter...Didn't realize the photographer was on shift! It was pretty wide, and didn't have hand-holds so, when it was rough, it made it a bit tricky for walking around.  We're used to being in a sailboat that you can touch all  the side walls or hand-holds.
 

 

Looking down the deck from our cabin.  It was a very nice boat.
 

 

That's our boat, in the distance, as we head back from a shore excursion.

  

 Of course, one of the main attractions, in the Galapagos, is the land tortoises.  They certainly are much larger than you think! 

 

And not all that attractive.

 

 

I believe this is Lonesome George, who passed away shortly after we left Chile.  He was the last of his particular breed, and they'd not had any luck breeding him with other females. 

 

 

These sea lions are incredibly tame and patient.

 

 

Just hoping that he can beat out the pelican for whatever scraps might be available.

  

On our beach walks, we saw several different types of lava...all quite interesting, but does not make for a very attractive beach. 

We didn't see all that many penguins, but this little guy obliged for a shot! 

 

If you think I look bored, you're probably right!  We saw so many of these marine iguanas, that it just became old hat...and an ugly old hat, at that!

 

 

They certainly can't be called attractive!

 

 

Well, apparently if you're another iguana, you might not feel quite the same way as I do! 

A Sally Lightfoot crab.  Very colourful and not much camouflage if you live on black lava rocks.

 



 

Talk about looking at ease and comfortable!
 

 

 Ditto, here!!

 

 

OH MY GOD...MY FEET ARE BLUE!!  A blue footed boobie...gee, this bird can't win...blue feet and a terrible name! 

 

I believe this is a frigate bird. 

 

 

 

This was my first time kayaking, and I really liked it.  However, as you can see from the extra feet, I'm not alone.  I'm not fond of tandem bikes, and this was a bit reminiscent as I didn't have total control of where I was and how close to the rocks we came.  Now, those of you who know me well, know I like control...so you can imagine how this all went!

 

Below are a few of our favourite underwater shots.  We also swam with the sea lions, but they came and went so quickly, it was impossible to photograph them.

 



A bit blurry, but this is a school of rays.