David came down for a week and the three of us took off for a week on a boat in the Galapagos. We had a wonderful time. First, the other passengers on the boat were from all over the world -- Holland, South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany. We were the only Americans, and David was the only one who lived in the US. Second, we had a wonderful boat and crew and our naturalist was top-notch. And finally, the Galapagos themselves are truly amazing!! The scenery is outstanding and the animals are fearless (you can get very close to them, but NO TOUCHING!!!!) Here are a few photos out of the more than 1,000 that Gil took.
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| Our Boat, the Yolita II |
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| Our wonderful chef and his assistant |
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| The fabulous crew |
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| Our naturalist, Dario |
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| This little guy rolled around sniffing all of our feet while relaxing in the shade we made. When we left, he tagged along with us for a little way until he collapsed and could go no further in the heat. It's hard walking on land with flippers. |
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| Cute baby sea lion |
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| Mother and baby |
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| Lunch time |
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| Male frigate birds displaying to attract a mate with sea lion in back |
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| Blue-footed boobie and her/his egg |
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| You really can get this close and they have no fear. |
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| Handsome fellow |
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| Nasca boobie, their feet are grey rather than blue. |
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| Albatros pair |
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| Albatros sitting on an egg |
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| Thinking about taking off for a flight. Albatros are so heavy they have to jump off a cliff to start flying from land. |
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| Albatros preparing to jump off the cliff to start flying |
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| And we're airborn! |
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| Awkward on land, and beautiful in flight. These are really big birds. |
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| Galapagos hawk |
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| Frigate birds cruising along with our boat. |
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| The female decided to take a break and catch a ride on the boat. |
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| Close up of Mrs. Frigate |
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| More frigates flying in the wind the boat made. They rarely flap their wings, they just ride the wind, and it's amazing how they keep up with the boat. |
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| One of the finches that inspired Darwin |
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| A different type of one of Darwin's finches |
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| An abandoned finch nest |
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| Brown pelican |
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| Kiss |
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| Penguin |
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| Taking to the water |
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| Diving and swimming underwater |
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| Mama sea turtle tracks where she went up to lay her eggs. We did encounter sea turtles while we snorkeled. |
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| Baby giant tortoises at the Darwin Center on Santa Cruz Island |
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| Gian tortoises at the Darwin center |
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| Giant tortoises in the wild at a reserve on Santa Cruz |
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| Flamingos |
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| Great heron |
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| Another great heron |
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| Kicker Rock where we snorkeled with a school of shark below us. It was an amazing experience. |
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| A white tip shark swimming near the shoreline |
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| Beautiful red crabs on the black lava rocks. They were all over the place and their red against the black rocks was gorgeous. |
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| Land Iguana |
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| Lava lizard |
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| Marin Iguana |
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| Blow hole |
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| These are desert islands with lots of cacti and lots of lava rocks. |
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| More cacti |
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| Red lichen |
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| Dazzling scenery |
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| Mangroves |
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| Strange buildings and goofy tourist on Santa Cruz |
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| More strange buildings and goofy tourists |
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| David and Gil |
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| The explorers |
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| David jumping off the top of the boat |
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| The pirates mailbox on Floreana Island |
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| Our route |
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| Sunset over the Pacific |
