Boating in the Galapagos Islands

Greetings from the Galapagos Islands. I embarked on an eight day trip on the Estrella del Mar I. A 75 foot boat carrying 16 passengers and 8 crew. I flew into San Cristobal Island and spent the afternoon trying to locate my backpack. Somehow they lost it on the flight from Quito to San Cristobal. It showed up five days later. By late afternoon we were swimming with sea lions at nearby Lobos Island. The following days were filled with sea lions, marine iguanas, red crabs, land iguanas, blue footed boobies, other birds, many tropical fish and a few sharks. We usually did 1 to 2 snorkels each day and also walked on designated paths on islands we visited.

Baby Sea Lion

We visited Espanola Island, it has lots of sea lions, oyster catchers, marine iguanas, and good snorkeling.

Blue Footed Boobie with Chick

Florianna Island, lots of flamingos ( they breed in May) and a bay full of turtles that we weren´t allowed to swim with.

Isabela Island, with five active volcanoes. Home to 12 species of giant land tortoise. We went to a breeding station and saw how they hatched the eggs and raised the young to age 5 before releasing them in the wild.

Santa Cruz Island, a wild party that night at Rafael´s Scuba Bar. The Charles Darwin Station with tortoise breeding from other islands. We walk into the highlands to see wild tortoises. They are much more active than the tame ones. We are lucky enough to find a breeding pair in one overgrown jungle area.

Seymour and Bartolome Islands. A couple small islands filled with sea lions, blue footed boobies, frigates, and other birds. Good snorkeling with lots of colorful tropic fishes.

Boobie Chick

South Plazas and Santa Fe Islands. A couple more small islands. Lots of land iguanas in yellow or green shades of color. It is hot out. The snorkeling continues to be good.

That´s about it. I was without a change of clothes for five days until they found my pack and brought it on board at Santa Cruz. I also came down with something that peaked on the fifth day with a swollen throat and lots of coughing and hacking. I don´t know what it was but am still recovering from it. Depite the personal setbacks, I enjoyed the natural setting and awesome animals. Best of all is that the animals have no fear of people. Our guide kept us 6 foot away from them, but it was hard not to pet the cute baby sea lions.

Frigate trying to attract a female

Next stop Lima and Cusco, Peru!

Sea Lions in Paradise

Oyster Catchers

Red Crab

Two Marine Iguanas

Iguana

Landscape

Marked egg

Small Tortoises

Captive Tortoise

Wild Tortoise

A Tough Boat Launch

Small Lizard

Yellow Iguana

Iguana with Cactus Flower