Skip to main content

Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island, Sunday morning 6 November

Lulu had fun getting each of us with a boobie on our head


The Galapagos trip ended up being a saga rather than a post.  For links to the whole trip please go to the first Galapagos post.
This post will focus more on the photos, and less on my commentary.  And if you want to just look at the pictures, just click on one of the photos and a slide show will magically appear.
 
Kay with a tortoise

Urbina Bay was our introduction to the Land Tortoise, land queen of the Galapagos. Saving these magnificent creatures is what it is all about. Here also we meet the land iguanas. Most of this post will be their photos. I have tried to pair distance photos with the close ups. We were close enough that we could have touched them, but no touching is allowed….that is unless they touch you.


Poison apples

Poison apple tree
 As we gathered once we disembarked, one of our group decided to move off the approved trail (a big no no). This is when Lulu told us about the Manzanillo, the Poison Apple. This stuff has a bunch of survival mechanisms. It causes contact dermatitis, as well as being rather lethal if ingested.

A feral kitten.
This poor thing was a starving kitten we found feasting on a dead pelican. There are no feral cat rescues here. They must be removed from the ecosystem. It is rough, but that is the reality here.
Fortunately for the gentle hearts in our group, Joel was not able to catch this one.

At one point, Lulu told us all to get on the right of the path. The Queen was coming thru, and we had to wait, being very, very still. The queen decided that Lulu’s toes were interesting. A possible snack? Lulu decided that moving away was a good idea.


 
Tortoise bones
  
Tortoise poop.

















Marine Iguana
  
Marine Iguana




















Marine Iguana, swimming
 
Not Rocks
Marine Iguanas, a bunch of them

Marine Iguana

Marine Iguana
They match the rocks so well


                                                  



   
In mating colors

 
 
Marine iguana bones






                                                                                                                                
Geomarker 
A geek moment for me
  

This marker is similar to one on each of the islands.  

Essentially it says “This Island belongs to Equidor” meaning “Back off you stupid Europeans.

 It is ours.” You might think they had had issues with this in the past.




Lava Cactus
 
Fragment of a tortoise egg shell

This pile of bones has a great story. A whale died on the shore several decades ago. The locals buried it because the smell was so bad. A scientist “discovered” it many years later. How disappointed he was to find that he had not made a great discovery. All of the people wanting to take photos of it was wrecking havoc on the beach, a nesting site for several kinds of critters. So the park guides hauled the thing up on the rocks and reassembled it.


     

Land Iguana
  
Land Iguana




Little lizzard




Lulu had us do a 5 minute meditation every day

After all of this, we went snorkeling.  I really love snorkeling, Except for the part about getting back on the panga.







Then we had lunch.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ecotravel and Greenwashing and a Ramble on Ethics

As someone who strives to reach the unobtainable goal of living ethically (or if you prefer the word: moral, holy, pure.) I am always questioning the decisions I make. I rarely get it right, but I make the effort. In these blogs I try to share not just the travel experience, but how these travels have changed me. Travel is a big issue in my personal path, and for the planet as well. Travel has its cost. I am not speaking of the monetary cost, but the ethical cost of going to another place and the affect on that place. I was accused by one troll of “Killing the penguins.”  The question becomes how do I tip the scales of Osiris in my direction. "Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with moral questions and values."  Encyclopedea Britanica This essay is on my thoughts on that particular dilemma. I can’t tell you what to think, but perhaps in reading how I came to my decisions you can add to my thinking, and perhaps think about your footprint. The photos are from my va...
7 comments
Read more

Antarctic, Tuesday 14 November 2023

A week and a half after landing, and I am still processing this trip.  I may be processing for the rest of my life. I think any trip to the Antarctic would be life changing. For me as a geographer, traveler, and elder, this trip was on my probably not gonna happen bucket list. Getting there was hard work. Getting over my personal barriers was difficult. There was nothing easy about getting there, a personal triumph. But there was something magical about this trip, this voyage. Even the Expedition leaders noted there was something special about it, a luck.  The weather, the sea conditions, the sightings.  All were way beyond expectations. I will begin as the voyage begins with Drake Passage. This passages has two settings one  involves sea sick meds, learning how to wedge oneself into bed, how not to smash fingers in doors. The other is Drake Lake. There is nothing in between.  We did the crossing in a day and a half rather than the usual two. There were bulletin...
7 comments
Read more

Revisiting Riverfront Park

  Riverfront Park near Windsor California has become my familiar walk.  I have walked it in many seasons, many weathers. I have posted about it before. So why am I doing yet another post on it now.  One of my biggest impediment (a word that literally translates to shackling the feet) is my self starter doesn't work well. The roughest step is the first one. There are many reasons for this problem, but the reasons are not important. How to get past the first step is important. That is the first and most important object of this blog is that by sharing what helps that first step for me may help other people in their taking the first step. Doing something over and over is not my best talent. Been there, done that, and don't even bother with the tee shirt. Coming to this particular walk seems to be more like comfort food. And yet I still have a need to keeping it fresh. In this episode I will discuss a little of what keeps it fresh for me. Sharing  Please stay on the trai...
Post a Comment
Read more