Galapagos Islands

Steve with our British friends, Bernie and Phil

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Steve with our British friends, Bernie and Fi ...
Just a note here, you can click a photo and see an large version. Then click back to return.

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High up on a hill is this aluminum statue of the Virgin of Quito. In honor of the Holy Virgin she is on the highest point in the city (9900 feet altitude) and overlooks the entire city. Our guide tells us she protects the city from earthquakes and ever since constructed, she has performed well.

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While in Equador, we went to the equator (duh) ...

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Pauline practicing her blow-pipe skills.

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Ecuador is on the equator, so we made a visit to a site that sits on the equator. This is the public monument erected by the governement.

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Central square in old section of Quito ...

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City street in Quito ...

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The central square was very picturesque although it was an overcast day. Ecuador is good bargain these days for Americans.

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This is bit out order as we spent some time in Quito, Ecuador, after our Galapagos visit. These young girls were street vendors at the central square in the old city.

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Here is map overview of our trip to Galapagos Islands. The numbers indicate the route our boat took. We would like to do more and it is on our wish list.

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I dont' know what bird this is, but he was quite close to me and I was able to get within 24 inches to take this close-up.

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This shot is of a pair of Galapagos hawks with telephoto lens. The detail is not good, but they are feeding their young chick a small bird that was just caught.

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Here is a close-up of a land iguana...

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The post office ...

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The group at the post office barrel ... actually, now a small barrel with the wood peaked roof you see in the back.

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On Floreana Island, is Post Office Bay. Used first by early pirates, a wooden barrel was placed up on the beach where sailors could place a letter to people back home. When another ship passed by, letters were picked up by those landing and taken with them to deliver to the addressee. It might take some time to get your letter. The practice is still conducted to this day and we all went through the letters to see if anyone near us had a letter for delivery.

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Our boat in anchored in the bay ... good view of the cactus tree.

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This is our group photo on the Galapagos islands ...

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Male frigate birds making themselves look pretty.

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Steve standing near some cactus trees. These cacti had prickly pear leaves but the "trunks" had distinct tree-like qualities. We were assured that they are not trees.

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Here is that new born sea lion.

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Land iguana

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Mother sean lion and her pup.

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The bull sea lions sometimes objected to our presence.

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Steve basking with the sea lions.

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Curious mocking birds.

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My feet are bluer than yours.

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Two boobies ... the feathered kind.

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They really do have blue feet.

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Basking sea lions.

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This attractive bird is the swallow-tailed gull.

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You literally had to watch your step to avoid treading on the iguanas.

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The name of this bird is the American oyster catcher. He was walking along the beach and allowed me to approach him very close to get his photo.

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This young pup was crying for his mother.

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We saw lots of these colorful crabs on the rocks by the beach.

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Sea lions love to bask on the beach.

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The male frigate bird can take up to 30-45 minutes to inflate its chest to attract a mate.

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During the dry season, these reddish colored plants turn red from the green during the wet season.

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The Galapagos mocking bird is extremely curious and will come up to you to investigate anything that catches its attention.

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Here are a pair courting albatrosses.

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One of the park markers on the islands.

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Land iguanas are lighter in color than marine iguanas ... the better to blend into their environment.

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Pauline taking a rest with some sea lions.

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This sea lion pup was born a few hours before the photo was taken.

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The animals were very tame ... no fear of humans. You could walk up to sea lions and they hardly took notice. You can see a marine iguana on the rock to the left of Pauline.

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Marine iguanas were sunning themselves by the hundreds ... here is one handsome fellow.

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One bird we really wanted to see was the blue-footed boobie.

2004-09-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

On September 8th Pauline and I arrived on the Galapagos Islands. We went immediately to view the giant land tortoises.