Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Loved it, loved it, loved it! It’s official, the Galapagos Islands have leaped into a prominent position on my list of ‘Favourite Places in the World’.

We began our Galapagos adventure with seven nights on the Angelito yacht and completed it with two nights in the big smoke of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz.


We followed the red line. Most boats head east so we were very lucky and didn’t come across too many other tourists.

Home for 7 nights, Yate Angelito

Great blue heron.
These guys were on the hunt for turtle hatchlings.





Green turtle hatchling

He got a few meters out to sea and then a frigate bird got him.


A frigate soaring above the boat
(Glenn's photo)


Our visitor on the back of the boat on the first night

We spent the first morning on Mosquera, a small sandy island that is very popular with sea lions.


We were told not to go any closer than 2 meters from the sea lions, but that didn't stop them coming closer to us.





Tana and her friend checking out the view.



There were just a few sea lions.



A salt water lagoon on Isabela (the largest island).


Huge groups of marine iguanas hang out at this spot on Fernandina.

We saw over 1.000 of them here.

They bask in the sun to warm up after swimming and they snort out salt water.

I got snorted on.


Flightless Comorants



Hanging with the iguanas.

These are the guys that snorted on me.





Lava, lava and more lava.


We were lucky enough to see five tortoises in their natural habitat.


Land Iguanas

Not much prettier than the marine version.

They were usually ambling along the path and in not too much of a hurry to move out of the way.




The only penguins found in the Northern Hemisphere.


Blue Footed Boobys
The only time it's acceptable to point and call out boobies.
Glenn made the most of it.

Green turtle
We saw heaps while snorkling. At one stage I counted 13 close to me.


My possie for drying out after snorkling, drinking wine and beer, and reading.



Boobys!

A booby doing a mating dance.

Tortoise lovin'

Twenty day old tortoise and a tortise egg.

An afternoon on the beach



This lava came from the volcano in the background.



Juvenile flamingo

Some of our shipmates: Zane, Tana, Marisol, Andy, Katy.


Post Office Bay
People leave postcards and other tourists pick them up and deliver them if they live close by.


Frigats fighting over the highest place on the boat


Another frigat hanging out on the back of the boat.


Our last dinner


After disembarking from the boat we stayed at this not so shabby place in Puerto Ayora, the largest town in the islands.
Lava lizards and sea lions liked to hang out in the bar along with the odd pelican.
One of the sea lions even went for a dip in the pool at one stage.


Cocktails and sea lions - great combination.

One of the resident iguanas doing aerobics


At the Charles Darwin Centre bonding with the baby tortoises.
This one peed on me.



Lonesome George - the last of his species.
He has two girlfriends in his enclosure to keep him company though.



Getting up close and personal with a giant tortoise
She's not so in to it. She may even be sleeping?!

Cuyabeno Reserve, Ecuadorian Amazon

School holiday time so I headed for the Amazon Basin. I spent 4 nights in the northern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon at an all inclusive lodge. Each day our fantastic guide Louis (think Ecuadorian crocodile hunter) took us on different adventures - night walk, caiman spotting, piranah fishing, visiting a local village, jungle walks, river trips, and tubing.


My home for five days.

A great place for siesta time.


Our dining room friend.


The gang and a massive tree.


Saki Monkey




Scorpian bonding


This critter landed in my lap during a night boat trip,
getting me bit closer to nature than I wanted.
Another day in the boat, I looked down to see a banana tarantula crawling along my leg.
I didn't get a photo because I was scared and photos were the last thing on my mind, and the closest thing I had for it to crawl on to was my camera.




Look at those teeth!


Louis attached meat to nylon on a stick (no hook) and went caiman fishing.
This guy got the meat and put on a show for us.


This one was hanging out by our dock and was enticed into the shallow water with a massive steak.
(I can't take the credit for this photo. Another member of the group, Angel, took it)


Another beautiful day in the Amazon.


Tubing behind the canoe in the Laguna Grande.


Sunset in the lagoon.


Sunrise on our last day.

A Shaman doing his thing.

Local village visit.
On the left there is a fish fillet drying in the sun.
There are massive fresh water fish in the rivers.

One of the local ladies collenting yuka to make jungle pizza for us.

Grating, grating, grating... actually I didn't grate for very long because I managed to grate my thumb.

Time for eating it.
We had it with pineapple jam and fresh chilies.