Galapagos Islands Blog Day Three
June 19, 2015 at 10:37 PM
We woke to the sunrise over Playa Espummilla beach on Stantiago Island. This mornings excursion saw us making a very wet landing as we headed for the thick mangroves that protect several species of finches, ducks and sea turtle nesting sites.
Santiago Island was the second of the islands visited by Charles Darwin in 1835. Darwin indicated a thriving population of land iguanas, but today they are extinct on Santiago.
It was great to see all the vegetation that has grown back as we walked inland past the mangroves. Decades before goats and pigs introduced by early visitors trying to settle on the island destroyed nests of many of the native species and grasslands. In the 1980’s the Galapagos National Park began eradication as part of project Isabella and the island was declared pig free in 2000, goat and donkey free in 2006.
Later in the afternoon we repositioned to the top side of the island to Puerto Egas to photograph the lava formations and capture yet another beautiful Galapagos sunset. Enjoy this evenings selection of images from our days trek.
Again this evening the first image our map, the yellow line shows our overnight sailing
This is what a wet landing looks like at high tide, this am on Playa Espummilla beach
White-cheeked pintail duck looking for small crustaceans for breakfast
Time to move on ...
Yellow Warbler having a bath on the inlet waters
Two more Warbler’s this morning by the edge of the water
Large Tree Finch in the mangroves
Another curious Tree Finch
Another beautiful Yellow Warbler as we walked along the groves
What’s Bruce photographing????
These baby pin tail ducks
Another curious Tree Finch
Now back on board time for a snorkeling lesson
After a short sailing we have anchored in the cove for snorkeling and bird photography
We took out the zodiacs to photograph along the shore this is a Nazca Booby in flight
Another island shore bird ... sorry can’t find a name match if you know please post
Nazca Booby in flight also called a Masked Bobby coming in for a landing
Closer to it’s landing point
And touch down
Nancy lining up her shot, shooting from a zodiac can be tricky
Landscape shot along the lava rock shore line
Our group of snorkelers coming back to the ship
Blue Footed Booby
Noddy Turn as we floated into a mall cove
Sally light footed crabs along the rock wall they blend in very well and many colours
Blue Footed Booby in flight
Another Blue Footed Booby getting ready to fly
Booby in flight along the shore
Some of the group snorkeling along the shoreline - Omar and Christine
Howard and Fern getting back from snorkeling
A flock of small turns fishing along the coast
Howard posing with a prickly pear cactus
Sally Lightfoot Crab on the lava rock this afternoon
Rob, Nancy and Ron, Angela in back along the lava shore
Angela capturing some of the marine life along the shore
This Heron was catching the evening light
Kim photographing the Heron
More kissing sea lions
Karen on the lava rock this afternoon
A face only a mother could love ...
More Sally Light Foot Crabs, they are so colourful
Bruce, Nancy and Sabrina photographing an Oyster Catcher by the shore
Christine taking a few shots of a Marine Iguana
We were luck to capture a beautiful sunset from the shore
Heading back to our ship, another great day
Pelican and some great colour as the sun sets
Iguana soak and soaking up the last sun rays of another perfect day
Well another great day here in the Galapagos, tonight we set sail for the Island of Genovese. It will be another great day of photography as this is the only island in the Galapagos where you can find the Red Footed Booby. Good night from the islands.