Blogs from Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 3

Unser erster richtigter Ausflug auf Galapagos ging natürlich zu den Riesenschildkröten. Wir fuhren mit dem Taxi zu einer Ranch, wo wir ganz viele gigantische Landschildkröten bestaunen konnten. Insgesamt waren ca. 20 wunderschöne Tiere dort, die wir gesehen haben. Das Areal war ziemlich groß, so dass wahrscheinlich noch doppelt so viele Schildis irgendwo herum liefen, die wir nicht sehen konnten. Die Schildkröten zu beobachten, war ein tolles Erlebnis, auch wenn ich das jeden Tag Zuhause könnte, aber in diesen Dimensionen ist es natürlich noch mal viel schöner. Der Taxifahrer wartete bis wir, nach ca. einer Stunde, zurück kamen und zeigte uns dann noch einen Tunnel. Dieser Tunnel enstand durch einen Vulkanausbruch, er war ca. 500 Meter lang. Der Taxifahrer brachte uns zum Eingang und sagte, dass er am anderen Ende, mit dem Taxi, auf uns warten würde. ... read more

BRIGHTER DAYS As I prepare to say good-bye to the Galapagos Islands I want to emphasize how great it was to dive off the live-aboard. My cozy little room was an unexpected pleasure. Regularly the cook prepared foods I love. There was always tea available just a few yards away. One of my synch cords for my camera broke but I still had one strobe and lots of opportunity to photograph the biodiversity that this area is famous for. The sea teemed with turtles, eels, and sea lions. On one of our twenty foot safety stops at the end of a dive, a group of wild dolphins entertained us with synchronized swimming. My gear was always ready on the dive deck when it was time to dive. Waves slapped the bottom of the bucking zodiac as ... read more

I decided to skip breakfast, which in hindsight was a great decision. A day of scuba diving lay ahead at Gordon Rocks, just off Santa Cruz Island and the sea was rougher today causing some of us to feel a little sea sick. We stopped off near the dive site so that the new divers could check their gear and be briefed on hand signals. In the meantime we admired the sea life by the rocks. The blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, sea lions among others. On the boat was a biologist, who passed me his binoculars pointing out all of the animals. It was a really great to hear about all of the animals from an expert and to see them so close. We approached the rocks, where the current felt much more strong and the ... read more

Friday 28thNovember2014 The Inland Highlands: Santa Rosa We hoped to see some giant tortoises today. We didn´t expect to see hundreds of them. The inland highland areas of Santa Cruz Island are quite lush, with untouched vegetation that the tortoises thrive on. Sadly, elsewhere, as mentioned in a previous blog, their habitat has been destroyed and numbers have decreased. Not here, however. The Santa Rosa region is an oasis for these magnificent gentle giants. One has to be careful driving along the tracks, because they don´t understand the Green Cross Code and they amble along all over the place, at leisure. We left the hostel early in the morning and went with a guide (just the two of us). He was a lovely character, but not particularly knowledgeable and informative, as one expects a guide to ... read more

“The earth is not a legacy from our ancestors, but a loan from our children” Native American Traditional (quote on our bathroom wall) We have only been here twenty four hours and we have already seen more wildlife than we expected to see in a fortnight. This place is incredible! John has already taken 203 photos and Viv took 65 before the battery died (must remember to charge up every night). We have swum in a lagoon with Marine Iguanas, seen Giant Tortoises, Land Iguanas, Booby Birds (but not the blue-footed ones yet), Pelicans, Cormorants, a small Ray, Sea Lions and numerous Darwin Finches of different colours and sizes. We haven´t hardly started yet, not having left the town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, where we are staying. We left Quito early ... read more