We signed up for a tour of Peru and Ecuador with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel). We flew into Lima on August 31.
At the end of our trip on September 17 we left Quito Ecuador, arriving home on the 18th.
This section covers the Galapagos Island portion of the tour.
Most of the following pictures were taken by Linda and Emerson but a few may be from our fellow travelers.
Our plane nears the Galapagos Island flying into Isla Baltra. The island just off the wing is Daphne Mayor (Daphne Major). It's a small island but a couple did a major study of finches there for over 20 years.
They did a through check of our luggage using a dog to ensure no foreign flora or fauna made it onto the island.
From Baltra we took a short ferry ride to Isla Santa Cruz where our bus met us and drove across the island to Puerto Ayora. Along the way we stopped at a high spot, about 2000 ft elevation, and it was kind of cold and there was fog. In Puerto Ayora we took the zodiacs to our boat the Tip Top IV anchored in Academy Bay.
Our first main course on the boat. Yum.
Puerto Ayora is home to the Charles Darwin research station where they are raising turtles and other animals in order to repopulate some of the islands. They have a display of Lonesome George in a controlled environment room.
A pen with young turtles.
Fresh lobster at the dock.
Close to 30,000 people are permanent residents of the islands but they only occupy 3% of the land area. They also have to stay outside of the National Park unless they are with a naturalist guide like Andres was ours.
Our route. The tour boats have a set path they have to travel over 16 days. They submit plans early in the year and then follow that same route for the rest of the year. The tours have to time themselves to be able to intercept the boat at a port.
Our first stop was Isla Espanola' Suarez Point
Our itenerary for the day
Our trip to shore.
There was a male sea lion protecting his harem and wasn't happy to see us and kept up noise making from the water while we were in the area. All of the other sea lions just ignored us.
You are supposed to keep at least 6 feet from the animals but when they are on the trail you don't have much choice. Visitors are supposed to stay on the trails and we all did.
Working our way through the iquanas
Nazca boobies
Blue footed boobies
A baby booby under its parent
A frigatebird trying to steal food from a booby.
A young booby
A snake that quickly disappeared into the under brush.
Albatross pair
Albatross egg??
Heron
A lizard, I forgot its name.
Another type of lizard.
We then moved to Gardner Bay where we could do some snorkeling. We had rented 3mm wet suits which were on the boat. The first jump into the water was still a cold shock.
Linda wearing her "Mae West"
Several sea lions were where we were swiming
A Red Sun Star. It has between 32 to 40 rays.
A Chocolate Chip Sea Star.
After Isla Espanola we went to Isla San Cristobal arriving the next morning at Punta Pitt.
Our Itinerary.
More boobies
If a chick steps or is pushed outside of the poop ring the blue footed booby parents will totally abandon it.
The red footed boobies nest in trees instead of on the ground.
The mother is trying to get the older chick to move so it has to use its wings before feeding and then they are attacked by a frigetbird.
Our path going back to the beach.
Later in the morning we had the opportunity to snorkle again. Ben, Andres and Emerson went on the dive. The entry here did not feel nearly as cold and I think more people would have gotten into the water if they knew it would be warmer.
We saw a lot more fish at this location
The prettiest star fish I have ever seen.
Sea Lion closeup
My favorite subject.
A really nice beach
Getting into the zodiac. This is called a wet landing as you will get your feet wet. Some places there was enough wave action to make it a bit exciting.
Back on the boat we get a lesson in making ceviche
We made a couple of passes around Kicker Island.
Enjoying the evening.
Our frigatebird escort.
We meet our full crew for the first and last time. When we would go up for breakfast and dinner some of the crew cleaned and straightened our cabins but until this time we had never seen them. They all did a great job.
Our itinerary for the last day on the boat.
Early morning we go to Mosquera Islet.
A new born sea lion
We go back to Isla Santa Cruz. This is the first tortoise we see outside of the Darwin Center. Our bus had to wait for him to cross the road. It didn't take long. The tortoise move up and down in altitude as the wet and dry seasons change. Much of the area is private farms but the fences etc are set up so they can easily move.
A tortoise takes a drink.
A close up of a tortoise.
We left the next morning with a flight back to Quito. Our flights back to the US were not for many hours so OAT put us up in a nice hotel close to the airport and provided a nice buffet meal.