All smiles in the Galapagos
Hola amigos,
We’re way behind on sharing adventures. Sorry. Since we landed in the Galapagos almost a week ago, it’s been a non-stop, steady stream of seeing animals, photographing animals, and then talking about the animals we’ve seen. It’s left little room for sharing our animal experiences. But today is our (your?) lucky day! We have a break.
How could they possibly not have had time to write a single post, you might ask? Here is a typical itinerary of our time onboard the Natural Paradise:
“The Galapagos isn’t a vacation” our bartender, Alejandro, wisely noted on our first day. And he’s right. But while we’re not rested, we are LOVING this tiny slice of the world and all the adventures we’re having here.
In no particular order, here are some of the highlights we’ve experienced:
Mating Flamingos
In no particular order – but also starting with my faves – these guys (and gals!) were a highlight. Even our guide had only seen this high-school-dance-mating-routine once before, so we felt pretty lucky to get to watch them muppet their way around in a gaggle, showing off their feathers and preening for each other. Not pictured are 2 pairs of flamingoes who had already paired off and laid their eggs, the rest of the class still had work to do.
Sea Lions. SO MANY.
The veritable squirrels of the Galapagos, these friendly looking lugs are everywhere. From the city streets and under park benches in San Cristobal, to any beach or rocky seaside throughout the islands, look carefully, and you’ll see Sea Lions (and the occasional Galapagos fur seal too).
We spent a lot of time watching them during our time in San Cristobal, and since we’ve been out in the islands, we’ve been a little less intrigued. “More sea lions? Meh – 🦭 … we’ve got enough pictures.” But we’re still watching them, because just like squirrels, just because they’re everywhere, doesn’t mean they aren’t a little cute too.
Here are a few of the cutest:
Very recent!
A surf & turf of Iguanas
The bartender on board our ship likes to joke that the snacks he puts out after we snorkel or hike are exotic. Chicken nuggets? Definitely Pelican. Spring rolls with meat? Blue Footed Booby, according to Alejandro. So it feels fair to refer to the Land and Marine Iguanas we’ve seen a whole lot of as ‘surf and turf’, right?
We’ve spotted a lot of Iguanas. From colourful Land ones looking to mate, to black Marine ones hanging out in clusters on the side of rocks, they’ve made for some good photos. Particularly these guys who moved in on us, just as much as we moved in on them.
Birds. Birds. Boobies. Birds.
It’s been a joke for a number of years now that Jay is an early birder. He loves birds. It started during the pandemic, got stronger when we started spending time up north, and has recently escalated with the purchase of a board game called Wingspan. Suffice to say that the ornithological life in the Galapagos is taking this hobby up another level.
Bird life here is plentiful. My faves have been the Pelicans.
We’ve also seen many a Blue Footed and Nazca Boobie. A whole lot of these swallow tail guys And finches.
You could even say that the Galapagos are for the birds. (Groan).
Penguins, Sharks and Rays
We’ve also had a chance to check out the wildlife underwater in a few snorkeling spots. They’ve yielded a whole lot of fish, sharks of increasing size (but don’t worry, these guys are vegetarians!) a huge Manta ray, and some smaller rays and a sea turtle or two.
I’ve been particularly into the various starfish we’ve seen. Including these chocolate chip guys. Chips, Ahoy!
Sorry for the ‘dump blog’ of animals we’ve seen, but now you’re caught up. We swap out some passengers tomorrow and have another 4 nights onboard. We’ve gotten our sea legs, and last night we made it to DOUBLE-DIGIT bedtime for the first time in days! We also had a lovely nightcap watching shooting stars and southern constellations from the sun deck hot tub. But, we have no photos of that portion of our tour, so you’ll just have to take our word for it.
More adventures to follow…
