North Seymour Island, Friday 11 November

Joel and boobies

The Galapagos trip ended up being a saga rather than a post. This will be the last post on this trip. It was amazing. This post is dedicated to all of the folk that helped me get back on the trail, and stick to it.

For links to the whole trip please go to the first Galapagos post.

This was our last day in the Galapagos. At this point I was whooped, tired, spent.

Look carefully at the time table listings. Brutal hours.

A million thanks to Lulu for insisting that I go on this last walk. I was was going to forego this last walk. I thought it was one of the rougher ones, and I did not want to give out and make everyone miss their flight. The whole point of this particular walk was to see the sun rise.

What I didn't understand until later, is that this early, early time is the most active time for the birds.

The boobies feed just after dawn. They fly along the shore, looking for schools. The lead bird sees an opportunity, and starts the dive. Beak closed, they dive straight down. Closed because the force of the water on the dive would break the beak. They then come up on the school from below to nab a fish. (My apologies at my lack of skill in doing videos. I will get better.)

Boobie

More boobies

Mating Boobies

Boobies on the rocks

Sea Lions masquerading as rocks

Mama and baby Sea Lion

Alpha male sea lion

Frigate Birds. These odd, large birds fly with the
boats, hoping for a meal. And all of our food wastes
they enjoyed.
The red pouch is inflated by the males.
This takes over a half hour, so we were lucky to see this.

When all is said and done, would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I do it differently? Probably.

I did not get to get as much of the local people stuff. Politics is difficult in all of Latin America, Equator is no exception. The social/ecological experiment of restoring the islands to their pre-Columbian splendor should be looked at by any group wanting to create an eco groovy place. They really are heading in the right direction

I feel that we really lucked out with having Lulu and Joel as guides. The Tip Top crew was fantastic beyond all expectations. Our travel mates were fabulous. What an amazing experience.

Comments

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 boards with all sorts o

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

The Galapagos: The start

Dear Friends I am just back from a trip that will forever change my life. An apex experience. I am afraid I will be insufferable for a while. When you meet me in real time, I will try to not go on and on, but if you ask, I will be happy tell you about what we did. Note on the photos: I will note all of the photos taken by other people, the rest were from me, taken with my phone (or rather my camera with a phone in it.) I have reduced the size. If you want a full copy of one of them, contact me. Note on dates, locations, and species: I do not claim any accuracy. Where you find that I have erred, please let me know so I can correct. Because of the size of the experience, and the huge number of photos I am processing, I am going to break this down into several sections because it is just so enormous in my head. I will sent an email update when I post something new, or you can check back here as I will make the following into links as I do the posts. Quito: or how to get high, Th

Bad Knees Travel

Search This Blog