Galapagos, Ecuador
We took close to 800 pics during our trip to Galapagos. Which is not that many compared to other people. My seasickness prevented me from being photo-happy like I usually am.
Regardless, we’d love to share some of these pictures along with the stories behind them with you guys. Hope you enjoy!
More Sea Lions Than We Knew What to Do With
Spot the different one
Location: Floreana Island
Large sea lion colony, white-flour-like sandy beach, and one of the best snorkeling spots makes Floreana a favorite island of ours in Galapagos.
Getting up close and personal to these sea lions made us realise that not only do they stink, but they can move a lot faster than their blubbery physique belies. The latter we found out when one of them decided to chase Jack. Playfully or aggressively Jack decided not to find out.
Siblicide Among Nazcar Boobies
The winner of the siblicide
What: Nazcar Booby and its survivor chick.
Of all the animals we’ve learned about in Galapagos, I thought Nazcar Booby has the most interesting upbringing. The mother would lay two eggs, and soon after hatching the siblings would fight to the death leaving only one chick to raise.
Evolutionists reason that statistically this results in the highest chance of having their genes passed on. We reason that this means that every single Nazcar booby we saw in Galapagos was there because it has killed its sibling (most likely by pecking it to death). It definitely made me view these cute birds in a completely different way.
Playful Galapagos Penguins
A penguin spotted off Is. Bartholome
Where: Bartholomé Island
We took many underwater pictures. Most turn out to be next to useless: out of focus, unrecognizable blobs (I’m pretty sure it was sea lion’s tail, or maybe it’s just a rock), etc. But here, we lucked out and got a decent picture of one of our favorite underwater creatures: the penguins. Seeing these little creatures gracefully darting in and out of a school of fish was a treat!
I ended up getting a kink on my neck the day after from trying to follow these guys while they swam. They’re so quick!
Sunworshipper Marine Iguanas
The biggest sun worshipper
These guys are not the cutest thing you’d ever see, but the sights of dozens of them piled on top of each other will undoubtedly elicit some ‘aaaw’.
Until they spit at you. (Don’t take it personally. It’s actually their way to expel salt water from their nose.)
Since they’re cold blooded, they spend a lot of time dozing and soaking up the sun, charging up their energy between feedings. Hmm, they reminded us of some people we know.
Jumping Off Cliffs in Las Grietas
Jack jumping off a rock in Las Grietas, Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Where: Las Grietas, Santa Cruz
This place is worth checking out especially if you like jumping from high up into the water. The height from which you jump varies from refreshing to painful.
While Jack was busy climbing and jumping until the sole of his feet couldn’t take it anymore, I chose to spend my time doggie paddling avoiding and shouting encouragement to the jumpers. A fun way to spend the afternoon.
The Opportunist
Where: Española Island
Waved Albatrosses mate for life. They’re magnificent on air, soaring for what seems to be forever effortlessly. Unfortunately, they’re not the most graceful during landing and often they crash land and die. When this happens, the mate would abandon the nest. And the egg.
This little guy (not sure of its name) was trying to break into one of these abandoned eggs on Española with its long, sharp beak. It was hilarious watching him. He was almost as big as the egg he was trying to break into and without a doubt much lighter as well. Definitely didn’t stop him from trying though.
For more pictures and stories from Galapagos:
Learning to Appreciate Galapagos
From Seasick to Landsick
I got to see iguanas in Bali and Malaysia, but I never knew they spit and I got eye to eye close to one! I wish I knew that before, but glad it didn't spit at me. Love the sea lion shot!
Yeah – and it's hard not to take it personally. We were like, 'Waa – why are you spitting at us?!!" 🙂
The Nazcar Booby surviving chick looks awesome! 😀 That face… :-)) That place must be a great experience, especially for photographers.
I love how goofy and uninhibited you two are in photos! That first one with Jack and his sea lion buddies cracked me up.
Awesome photos as always. Are you guys able to edit photos while traveling or are these all straight off your camera card?
Wow… these are some great pictures! We're still undecided about whether we want to blow the budget on a visit to the Galapagos, but it sounds like you had a great time (aside from the seasickness of course).
Love these animal shots!! Looks like you had awesome weather =)
The picture of Jack with the sea lions is my favorite by far!!
This looks so exciting. I am an animal lover, so I know I have to go there someday. Do you think it's an easy place to travel with small kids?
These are great photos and it looks like you're having a blast. My only up-close experience with sea lions resulted in me concluding they smell – really bad!
Actually grape green with envy right about now. And no, I didn't spot the odd one out in the seal photos – was Jack the one at the front?! haha 😉 Amazing place especially with a bird called a 'boobie' – totally cool!
The Galapagos looks sensational. I SO want to go there. (And so sorry to hear about the seasickness.) I'm actually getting ready to start investigating prescription sea sickness medicine because I am going on a cruise next month.
Wow these are beautiful. I must visit this place… at some point in my life.
To say I'm jealous of you going to the Galapagos would be an understatement!! Love the photos, hope there are more to come 🙂
Thanks 🙂 I'm going to add a link to our Picasa album for the rest of the pics.
Haha, we have almost the exact same picture of Pete playing "Where's Waldo" among the sea lions. I LOVED the Nazca Boobies, they had the craziest faces.
Loving the Iguana shot!