Saturday, June 1, 2019

Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands


Guayaquil, Ecuador


Our connecting flight to the Galapagos allowed us to spend a day in Guayaquil, Ecuador.  The highlight was definitely vising the Parque Seminario, which is home to lots of giant iguanas.

Hanging out in Guayaquil

It can get pretty scary when one of these guys decides to relieve himself from above!

Rock and roll iguana

Alex is yummier than lettuce

Just like feeding Katie when she was little

This guy wanted to sneak a ride out of Ecuador

Alex, Katie, and statue

On the boardwalk in Ecuador


Galapagos Islands

We spent five days visiting different areas and islands in the Galapagos, and were able to see a many stunning creatures and views.

Pelicans at sunrise

Dragon beach

Squadron in attack formation

Blue footed booby

Marine iguana army assembling

These frigate birds soared the ridge lift created by our ship for hours
The inspiration for Godzilla rising through the dock

Sally Lightfoot hiding in the shade

Lava Heron

Blue footed booby mating dance

Cool forked tail on this male frigate bird

Galapagos finches, like this one, inspired Darwin's work on evolution of species

Our home on the Galapagos Islands

Great blue heron
 
Typical view of mangroves, lava, and tide pools on the Galapagos
 
It looks like he was posing, but he was actually being obstinate and blocking our exit from our Zodiac

These Galapagos cactus can have a tree trunk up to 20 feet high

The dragon of the Galapagos - the land iguana

It was as big as it looks!
 


Levitating mangrove forests

 


If you look closely, you can see three white-tipped reef sharks



Katie was thrilled to find a friend to swim with

 
The inspiration for E.T.






Galapagos penguins

Most of the pictures of this sea lion didn't turn out because he was swimming too close to get a good picture!






Giant Tortoise Breeding Centers on the Galapagos Islands 

The breeding centers have been an enormous success in bringing many Galapagos tortoise species and sub-species back from the edge of extinction.  There are now 35,000 tortoises on the Galapagos.

Feeding time frenzy

He made it back over, but larger tortoises can't turn back over on their own.
 
American giant tortoises
 
 
 

End of the trip

Three flights and we're home!

Last sunrise over the Galapagos Islands

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