Ecuador - Part 3 - Galapagos

From Quito we flew to Guayaquil then on to San Cristobal for a 7 night cruise through the Galapagos.

The Eric (below) was home. REI Adventures does a great job. Our 20-passenger boat had 2 naturalists on board who led our on-shore excursions and gave informative talks in the evenings.  They were very knowledgeable.

Our first stop was Genovesa, or Tower Island. Because the government controls the number of boat landings and also restricts the size of the boats allowed to cruise the islands, there are few visitors every year. On Genovesa, for example, (the best islands for bird lovers) only boats under 40 passengers are allowed. Our groups were split 10 passengers per naturalist.  Some of the landings are “wet” – where you have to jump out of your boat & swim or wade to the shore and others are “dry” where they actually have a small landing area or dock. The water is the Galapagos is actually quite cold despite being located near the equator … but we did survive!

Here we are on Genovesa stopping by a pair of Nasca boobies. The largest population of birds are the red-footed boobies (below), but are the hardest to spot!

Cerro Dragon, or Dragon Hill, is on the northern tip of Santa Cruz. We saw the this Galapagos land iguana basking in the sun. Land iguanas were once part of the Darwin Station’s breeding program. They have large spines on their backs and look very prehistoric! This guy was about 4 feet long!

On North Seymour island we passed a large colony of magnificent frigates. The males puff their pouch to attract females. (some things never change – no matter the species!) http://www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.com/galapagos-birds.html

Also found on North Seymour are the blue footed boobies. They usually lay 2 eggs which they turn with their feet.  Their feet turn blue as the age. The female is larger and has a black ring around its eyes.
 

Tobey decided to make friends with the sea lions on Isabella – sun-bathin’ buddies - but he sure did scramble when this one decided to bark at him!
The giant tortoise at the Darwin Research station.

Below, we took a picture for our local newspaper. We are surrounded by marine iguanas! They sun themselves on the lava rocks to stay warm – and you hear them “spitting” water.

It is hard to believe what incredible creatures that God has put on this earth. I’m ready to go back!