Tales from the Galapagos: More San Cristobal Island

After the rigorous trek in the morning, we were all happy to hear we would get some time to just explore the beach on another part of San Cristobal island.

The highlight was watching the blue-footed boobies dive into the ocean for fish. I tried and tried to get a decent video with no luck. They dive head first really fast and stun the fish on impact. Then swim back up and pick them off the surface.

Kicker's rock in the distance - a landmark cited by Darwin when he visited the islands.

And, of course, a sea lion welcome committee.

Remember the Sally Lightfoot crabs from an earlier post? Here's one of the juveniles - can you spot it?

This is actually a pelican, not a blue-footed booby diving, but still a cool shot.

And this was our first glimpse of a marine iguana - they can hold their breath under water for up to an hour - how do we know? Darwin tied a rock to one, then forgot about him, pulled him up an hour later and it was still alive. They eat seaweed and 'sneeze' away all the salt. That crust on his head is salt so thick it won't even wash off.

Back on the boat in time to view a lovely sunset.

Tales from the Galapagos: San Cristobal Island and Boobies!

This 3-hour trek was by far the most difficult with rocky terrain, an uphill climb and hot weather. But the payoff was our chance to see blue-footed boobies, red-footed boobies and Naska boobies in their natural habitat.

This gives you an idea of the hike up - yes, straight up that hill in front of us!

And our reward was this lovely lady who had made a nest for herself at the top. This is a blue-footed booby and the white powdery looking stuff surrounding her nest is bird poop. Blue-footed boobies make their nests on land in the dirt. Both male and female sit on the egg and take care of the chicks.

These two are photos of the red-footed boobies - the top is an albino red-footed booby. Both are sitting on nests - red-footed boobies nest in the trees and have special prehensile webbed feet that allow them to hold on to the branches.

You can see from this photo that there isn't really much of a nest for the blue-footed boobies. And just look at those feet!

This pair were hanging out in the middle of our path (we had to walk around) and seemed to be having a friendly chat.

 And those feet!!

 Here's a shot of the pretty views. Rugged volcanic terrain that sets off the blue of the water nicely.

There were babies everywhere! And they're pretty ugly when they're little.

The main attraction here were the blue-footed boobies. We saw them again occasionally, but never in the same numbers as we saw this morning on San Cristobal island. The red-footed and Naska boobies will make another appearance later in the trip.

Tales from the Galapagos: Tortoise Breeding Center San Cristobal Island

Our afternoon excursion took us to the Tortoise Breeding Center on San Cristobal island. It was a long bus ride into the highlands for a not too interesting visit, but the work they are doing here is admirable. And it was our first glimpse of the giant tortoises.

The breeding program is designed to replenish and enhance the current population of tortoises across the Galapagos. There are numerous species of tortoise with different islands having different animals specifically evolved for life on that island. This is one of a few different programs studying the tortoises and working to get their populations back up to normal on a variety of islands.

They stay in captivity from birth until about 15 years when they should then be able to fend for themselves in the wild.

This guy just seemed to model for the camera. As with other areas of Galapagos, the tortoises have no fear of humans and aren't bothered by us at all. Of course, we're all also under very strict instructions not to be too loud, get too close or touch them in the hopes that things will stay as they are.

Tales from the Galapagos: Santa Fe Island

The next morning started with the option of a long walk or a short walk. We were warned that the long walk would be over difficult terrain, hot and 30-45 minutes longer so we opted for the short walk. And we were so glad we did as we saw many more animals than the long walk participants. Here are a few of the friends we met on Santa Fe Island.

Once again, we were greeted by sea lions. This was a 'wet landing' which meant we took the pangas (zodiac boats) to the shore and stepped off onto the sand/water. The sea lions couldn't have cared less that we were there - the animals in Galapagos have absolutely no fears of humans, which is amazing to experience.

A view of our boat from the island and a taste of the terrain.

This is the Santa Fe land iguana. She is only found here on Santa Fe island in the Galapagos.

We saw more prickly pear cactus - a different species from the last island. Here, our guide, Cathy, was explaining how slowly they grow. The two in front of her are 6-7 years old and the ones in the background could easily be over 100.

Another shot of the Santa Fe land iguana. Apparently, we were lucky to see them as they aren't always out and about. They planned well for a cooler and a bit overcast morning, which is the perfect weather for them to be out, sitting under their adopted cactus waiting for breakfast to fall.

I think this might be a Galapagos mocking bird, but not 100% sure.

And this is one species of lava lizard. They're very small and pretty colorful. Trivia: a group of lizards is called a lounge.

Pelicans are also plentiful throughout the islands. I was lucky to catch this one in flight.

Tales from Galapagos: South Plaza Island

Our first island excursion was a 90 min trek (a bit rocky, but slow so not difficult) with a nature guide to see South Plaza island and it's inhabitants.

We were greeted at the dock by masses of Sally Lightfoot crabs. The red ones are mature and they are cannibals so the immature crabs are dark black just like the rocks they live in to provide some camouflage.

There are sea lions everywhere - this one was playing with a Sally Lightfoot - they don't eat them, but the guide said this area was the 'kindergarten' so they were playing.

A lava gull sitting serenely. This was just the first tiny taste of our Galapagos bird exeperience.

This is one species of the prickly pear cactus that exists on a number of the islands. If you look closely, there is a land iguana camped out at the base. They tend to adopt a cactus and then wait patiently under them for the fruit and flowers to fall off for dinner.

Here's a better close up of another land iguana calmly hanging out in the middle of our path.

The landscape is so different and really pretty in it's own special way.

Tales from Galapagos: Quito, Ecuador

In May, 2018, we took an amazing trip to the Galapagos. My next few posts will highlight the trip and all the amazing wildlife we saw. Our journey started with a long series of flights to Quito in Ecuador (Bristol to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Quito). Quito is a beautiful city in the Andes mountains with an elevation of 2850 meters. Altitude sickness can creep up on you so you have to drink lots of water, eat a bit less than you normally would and cut back on the alcohol (I know, just what everyone wants to do while on vacation!). The hotels all have oxygen tanks at reception for those suffering the effects. It was a strange feeling - lightheaded, out of breath after even the smallest amount of exertion - weird. That, plus the jet lag meant we weren't at our finest that first day.

We had a city tour and a trip to the equator as part of our cruise/tour package. Here are a few of the sights.

Yep, it was one of those kinds of tourist trap places. You pose for your photo at 0, 0, 0 latitude, and then visit the gift shops. Corny, but also necessary, after all, how many people can say they've been to the equator?

And to be fair, there actually was a pretty cool little science exhibit that talked about the weird things that happen at the equator or on either side of it - like water swirling in the opposite direction . . .  which is actually a myth as water swirls most prominently in the direction is enters the sink!

 Back in Quito we saw some fun street art - just like Bristol!

 And some amazing architecture. The Spanish influence is strong here.

 And the love of gold leftover from the Incas. This is the entrance to one of the churches (we couldn't take photos inside). The place was covered in gold leaf that was all applied by hand. The alter area alone took 10 years to finish! A labor of love for sure.

 And this is the virgin mary statue on the hillside. Yes, she has wings like an angel, which is a bit unique.

 The courtyard of a monastery - beautiful.

This photo was taken back at the Equator site and gives a good view of one of the active volcanos around Quito. You can see the clouds which are there most days and give the whole city a mysterious vibe.