caramelo

Everything looked so green:

We saw a Black-Necked Stilt:

Again we saw a den or nest of the land iguana.......... so we knew that they couldn´t be very far away!

And exactly so……… very soon we found one:

At 3:30 pm we returned ashore with a wet landing at the place called Cerro Dragon on the Santa Cruz Island.

The Santa Cruz Island is an Ecuadorian island in the Pacific Ocean, part of the archipelago of the Galapagos Islands and is the second largest group of islands after the Isabela island, situated in the center of the islands. It has an area of 986 km².

We walked by a salt water lagoon behind the beach, where occasionally you can see flamingos. We didn´t see them, and only saw the lagoon:

And introducing his girlfriend to us:

Afterwards those who wanted had the chance to do some snorkling:

The last images before returning to the ship:

An iguana swimming:

And the crabs with some iguanas:

And some marine iguanas, the first one looks as if he is waving to us!:

What nails! :

This time, as a change from the sea lions we saw the Galapagos fur seals. The main differences between them is the change in the type of skin or hair which you can notice in the following images:

And a fur seal together with an iguana:

The Striated Heron also known in some parts of the world as the Little Heron, is a fairly common sight in Galápagos tidal pools, mangroves, ponds and rocky shores. Similar in size to a Lava Heron, the Striated Heron is also rocky gray in color. They can be easily differentiated, however. The Lava Heron’s coloring is uniform, whereas the Striated Heron has a black crown and dappled wing feathers.

They usually perch on a branch or rock near the water’s edge, head back, waiting for a small fish or crustaceans to swim by. They then lunge forward, trapping their prey in their sharp beak and quickly gobbling it. The Striated Heron is a clever bird, occasionally dropping a leaf into the water and snapping up fish that come to look at

Sealions have small, cartilaginous external earflaps; seals lack external earflaps.

We saw some very nice natural bridges with some sally lightfoot crabs:

And as always, the first waiting for us were the sealions!:

The hike was about 2 km and was the weakest outing of the trip where we saw relatively little compared to other days.

Yes, we saw different types of birds, such as the Smooth-billed Ani (in Spanish they are called garrapateros) which is a large near-passerine bird in the cuckoo family. It is a resident breeding species from southern Florida, the West Indies, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, south to western Ecuador, Brazil and northern Argentina.

They are introduced birds. They compete with native and endemic birds for territory and food, feed on insects and lava lizards. The garrapatero was recorded for the first time in the Galapagos in 1960.

The Smooth-billed Ani has proved to have an exceptional capacity for adaptation in a new environment. The first report of their presence was made in the 1960’s. By the middle of the 1980’s they were widely distributed on the southern part of Isabela Island on Galapagos. Today they are almost all around the archipelago.

The Smooth-billed Ani is found in open and semi-open country and cultivation. The nest, built communally by several pairs, is a deep cup lined with leaves and placed usually 2 - 6 metres high in a tree. A number of females lay their chalky blue eggs in the nest and then share incubation and feeding.

Each female is capable of laying up to 7 eggs and nests have been found containing up to 29 eggs, but it is rare for more than ten to hatch. Incubation is 13 - 15 days, with another 10 days to fledging. Up to three broods may be raised in a season, with the young of earlier broods helping to feed more recent chicks.

The Smooth-billed Ani is about 33 centimetres long and weighs 95 grams. The adult is mainly flat black, with a long tail, deep ridged black bill and a brown iris. Their flight is weak and wobbly, but this bird runs well and usually feeds on the ground. The Smooth-billed Ani is a very gregarious species, always found in noisy groups. The calls include a 'whining ooo-leeek'. The Greater Ani feeds on termites, large insects and even lizards.

The Smooth-billed Ani will occasionally remove ticks and other parasites from grazing animals. There are records of several of these birds ravaging into finch nests for either the eggs or the chicks.

This common and conspicuous species has greatly benefited from deforestation.

This species is called 'El pijul' in the Venzuelan folklore. It is mentioned in the popular Venezuelan song 'Son Jarocho'.

Smooth-billed Ani:

A Galapagos Mockingbird, a bird native to the Galapagos Islands which is included on the red list of endangered birds:

We also saw a White Heron. The white heron is slender and elegant, wearing a long neck that, in general, remains folded in an "S ". The plumage is entirely white, soft and plentiful, and the beak is long, pointed, yellow and sharpe nough to easily thread a fish and its iris is pale yellow.

The white heron:

Friday, 13th of August

At 8am we had a wet landing in Puerto Egas on the Santiago Island.

Puerto Egas is a black sand beach located on the west side of James Bay in the north west of Santiago Island. The island has an area of 585km2, which means that (in size) it is the fourth largest island in the Galapagos Islands. The Sugar Loaf Volcano is located on the south side of the beach, which has deposits of volcanic tuff, the same that have favored the formation of black sand beach. The crater located north of this site, has a salt water lagoon which dries up in the summer and turns into a salt mine.

These were the first images arriving:

And this one with the 2 lava lizards on his back!:

Finally we saw a flightless cormorant, also known as the Galapagos cormorant. It is a cormorant native to the Galapagos Islands and is an example of the unusual fauna inhabiting these islands. It is unusual in that it is the only cormorant that has lost the ability to fly. With a population of 1,500 individuals tested, is one of the rarest birds in the world.It is found only on two islands, Fernandina, mainly in the east coast, and in Isabela, on the northern coast and west coast. Population has experienced severe fluctuations, the El Nino event in1983 caused a reduction of 50% of the population, after that there were only 400. However, the population recovered quickly and in 1999 their number was 900 individuals. This species lives in the rocky shores of the volcanic islands it inhabits. They look for food in the coastal waters and they normally do not travel further than 1km of the area where it reproduces.

The Flightless Comorant:

Although they can´t swim, I think that this is a comorant in the water:

It was a very full day and another of our favourite excursions of those offered by the ship.

Upon returning to the ship as always enjoyed a drink with canapés chatting with other passengers.This particular hour I always enjoyed.

TO BE CONTINUED, on the Santiago Island…………..

& in big numbers or groups:

I also found this sea lion funny with his wide and square shaped feet:

And with the crab on top of his tail:

It is also funny how they all have their arms around and are hugging each other:

And with a Blue Heron:

And they seem very modern with a “punk” style and the spikes on their heads:

Luckily we saw a turtle come out of the water, quite a young one judging by his colour:

And we could not be without the Galapagos marine iguanas which are the only of its kind that have the power to swim in the ocean around the world:

And the bird on top of the cactus:

And arriving ashore we saw the first sea lion sleeping his siesta:

And sharing the siesta with an iguana:

And his friend having a swim:

We returned to the ship.

When we had our Welcome Cocktail on the first day aboard the captain said there was an ope ninvitation, no time or date, for passengers who wanted to, to go and visit the ship's bridge. So today it was the best opportunity and fitted invery well with the schedule and the plans so we went on the spur of the moment to see the bridge:

All the staff and the captain were very friendly and helpful showing us and explaining the operation of machinery and the ship and answering all of our questions.

At 3:30 pm we returned ashore for about 2hours on Fernandina Island, landing at Espinoza Point.

Punta Espinoza is located on Fernandina Island, the youngest of the Galapagos Archipelago and most volcanically active. She has an amazing combination of barrenness with lots of wildlife.

Fernandina Island is the westernmost area of the Galapagos Archipelago and is one of the youngest islands and also its volcano is one of the most active.There are no human settlements on Fernandina Island and there is only one authorized place for visits which is Punta Espinoza.The volcanoes behave differently to the other volcanoes in Ecuador. The total volume of gas is low (compared to continental volcanoes). Galapagos eruptions have low intensity explosive (such as Mount St. Helens, Mount Etna, etc.). In volcanic Islands the lava does not leave from a single strand. Eruptions on the island volcanoes are often through fissures. These fissures can be radial or circumferential. The Galapagos eruption began on Friday, May 13, 2005. A circumferential crack located the southern flank of the volcano was the source of diluted rock. The height of the crack is about 1,100 meters above sea level and its length was 6 kilometros. When the cracks are short, the eruptions are long because the lava has only a small area of escape. That is why the eruption in the Galapagos in 1995 took almost four months. Then, once a small crack opened and formed a cone which had a diluted rock while the eruption continued. (Something like a red hot pot). A month later, the cone wall broke and the lava began to flow towards the coast. It took a week for the lava to reach the ocean. When the cracks are long (like this present eruption) the eruption tends to be short, since all the rock has a higher diluted exhaust area. The bark of these lava flows cools slowly, and create an isolated layer. Below, the lava continues to flow for at least a month before it cools completely.

You can see the volcanic lava formations in the following photos:

We were ashore for about two hours, and on the way we saw for the first time the Galapagos turtles.

This animal can be more than 1.80min length and weighs over 225kg. Galapagos turtles are herbivorous and feed on creeping herbs, fruits, leaves and cactus, but also eat carrion when given the opportunity and even other bodies of the same species. These animals are extremely slow moving at a speed of 0.25km/h. The current population of the Galapagos tortoise is estimated at about15,000.There are15 sub-species of Galapagos giant tortoises. The Galapagos tortoise grows continuously for about 30 to 40 years to reach its maximum size.

It is worth mentioning that no one knows exactly how long a giant Galapagos tortoise can live, how ever it is believed they can easily reach 150 years of life and sometimes more!

We also saw the yellow coloured land iguanas:

And it´s nest or resting place:

The boat on the left of ours is the National Geographic ship:

Urbina Bay went through a volcanic uplifting back in 1954, leaving marine skeletons, which makes the course very interesting:

Also in this area there is a large amount of vegetation which attract our attention such as the muyuyos, chamomile and rosewood, butamongall these plants stand out the beautifu lflower such as Darwin cotton, endemic to the Galapagos Islands.

The muyuyo flower: These large shrubs are endemic to the archipelago. They are named because of the white wool that covers the seeds. Its flowers are yellow with a purple corolla at the base of the petals and turns pink with age. It grows in rocky areas. It produces a fruit the size of a grape and its liquid is gummy, like hard glue. Its branches are used for rustical handcraft furniture, as well as for fences for livestock:

The Darwin Cotton Flower:

Thursday, 12th of August

Isabela Island is the largest in the archipelago and has an area of 4,588 km2, which corresponds to 60% of the total surface of all the Galapagos Islands. It has 6 volcanoes an 5 of them are still active, the most important of them is called Volcano Alcedo. It is 1,707 meters above sea level.

We landed at Bahia Urbina which has a trail that starts at the beach, where a wet landing is made, the route is approximately 3200m, and crosses through sand, pumice, lava, coral and vegetation in an area where the coast suffered a rising.

These were the first images arriving ashore:

Thanks so much Dalitos and Terre.

Terre: do not worry about the wet landings at all, as at the very most we are talking of a few inches or cm of water but not a big amount..... the water hardly would reach the top of your shoe! You need adecuate shoes as it would be a shame to wet your normal shoes but it is in very little water.

For example, these are not my photos but ones found on the internet, but they show you exactly what and how a wet landing is like:

Yes, it is a lot of work doing this travelogue but thanks to all of you and your comments it is worth the effort, and I do hope it serves as good memories to those who have done a similar trip and as help to all the future travellers to the Galapagos

I´ll be back sooooooon with more!

Seeing the Galapagos penguins swimming in tropical waters, right at the equator is really special because they can not be found anywhere else in theworld with hot climates. These penguins depend on thecold Humboldt current for food.They feed only during the day near the shore and their favorite food is sardines.

Then we saw other penguins in the water.They swim in a very graceful way leaving only their heads above water with the rest of their bodies submerged.

They also sometimes swim with their heads underwater when looking for fish.

Andwhen they come into action, they plunge into the water and move with astonishing speed, using their powerful flippers for propulsion and their legs as a rudder

They are very small and very fast which made it practically imposible to photograph them.

A penguin in the water:

I am now nearly atotalexpertonpenguins as I've seen them in the Antarctica, inSouthAfrica, NewZealandand nowin theGalapagos!!!!!

We tried snorkling a second time but we have not been more successful than on the first attempt. We swallowed gallons of water again! We decided not to do it again on this trip until we learn more at home on how to do it properly.

We returned to the ship where we enjoyed another quiet and relaxing evening.

TO BE CONTINUED ……… On the Isabela & Fernandina Islands…………...

When we came down we had another opportunity to do snorkeling - we went to the zodiac to another area of the beach and on the way by boat by chance we were lucky enough to see a penguin out of the water:

Our naturalist or guide explained about the rocks formed from volcanic lava to us:

Upon reaching the summit are the best views of Santiago Island and James Bay to the west, and the pinnacle in the distance, as well as North Seymour, Baltra Island, Santa Cruz Island and the Rabida Island. Bartolome Island is surrounded by turquoise waters and white sandy beaches that really add to the beautiful landscape. Close to the Pinnacle Rock you can also see two beautiful beaches in the form of a crescent.

And the incredible views from above:

Where we landed, we had to climb over the sleeping sea lions on the steps:

Upon arrival we climbed up the wooden staircase to the summit in order to appreciate a spectacular view of two beautiful bays and observe fascinating formations of lava and volcanic cones:

Where we climbed the steps... ... ... ... ... ...I realized on the way that I'm not physically fit for this, ha ha ha:

Images as we went up:

At 3:30 pm after lunch we went ashore again on the island of Bartolomé:

These were the first images arriving at the island:

It is very difficult to see in the picture below but just above everything there is a kind of lighthouse and we walked up to this point:

The Bartolome Island has the most spectacular landscapes of the Archipelago. It is a volcanic island and has an area of 1.2km² (112 hectares) and a maximum altitude of 114 meters . Here is the famous Pinnacle which is a huge black lava formation that has eroded over time.

The Pinnacle:

We also saw a Great Blue Heron, which are really beautiful, and have a wingspan of nearly 2 meters, 130cm tall and weighs about 2.5kg. and in the Galapagos Islands they generally can live up to17 years of age.

It is a fierce and efficient predator feeding mainly on marine iguanas, lava lizards and common fish, and looking for food constantly throughout the day and night. Galapagos great blue herons have gray-blue feathers on most of their bodies and a plume of feathers on the chest and back. It also has a long yellow beak and funny long legs.

The blue heron is tall and the wings, the peak of the neck, and legs are too long and when flying he has to hold his head back against his shoulders and his long neck is bent back, his long legs further back in an upright position and flies with slow but strong wing beats. When on earth or in water his walk is strong with long steps.

Great Blue Heron:

I am putting this picture even though I unfortunately cut the head of the blue heron a bit, but as he began to fly you can see how big he is:

And here is the beautiful landscape in the background:

We returned to the ship at approximately 12 o´clock midday.

And a lava gull which is a rare gull species whose plumage is gray and brown. Endemic to the Galapagos Islands, it is the only one typical of the archipelago of the four present. Called by the Islanders brown gull and by the Anglo-Saxons lava gull. They inhabit the beaches of these islands, feed on detritus and hunt newborn marine iguanas, they nest alone and have no specific breeding season being able to breed throughout the whole year. They incubate two eggs for 24 days. When they reach adult size they measure up to about 45 cm long and from 90-100 cm wingspan.

And, of course, we saw more iguanas!:

We went back to the beach and saw again some more sally lightfoot crabs ………..I have no idea why this one is covered with foam!!!!:

And again a mangrove canary and some other birds: