After an abbreviated day the day of arrival in Sydney, we were ready to tackle a somewhat more ambitious agenda, although admittedly with some reservation of energy for attendance at the opera in the Sydney Opera House this evening. Opera is not particularly strenuous, nor was the journey to the SOH, but we were mindful of the fact that our home town is 8 hours ahead of us (actually, technically 16 hours behind us), and that would make staying alert until later at night somewhat more problematic. Just a short walk across a peninsula from Circular Quay is Darling Harbour, but with poor train connections and a need for exercise, we walked there in about 30 minutes from our hotel. One the city side is the Sydney Aquarium, and across a pedestrian bridge over the harbor ... read more

Growing up in Charleston, one becomes accustomed to various airborne effluents that shape in a visceral way your feel of the city. In my youth, we knew that if the wind blew from the north we would smell the paper plant in North Charleston, an aroma which must be experienced rather than described. My high school driving instructor, whose husband worked at the plant, said it smelled like bacon and eggs to her. The MeadWestVaCo plants is still there today, and still perfumes the air with what my father would have called the sweet attar of roses. In the right sun, viewed from the water or the nearby I-526 bridge, the glass front along the Ashley River reflects glints of light from wavelets in the river, putting on an almost psychedelic show. Today, the smell of ... read more

Today's activities included visits to Santiago (San Salvador, James) Island at Puerto Egas and then on to the much-anticipated visit to the Natural Habitat Adventures leased private "campsite" on Santa Cruz (Indefatigable) Island. At Puerto Egas we got our first close looks at the Galápagos fur seals. Despite the name, these are actually sea lions. Their fur is thicker than that of the Galápagos sea lions, and thus was more valuable as a pelt to sell. Extensive hunting nearly exterminated these animals in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Their numbers rebounded once hunting was halted, but declined again following the severe El Niño of 1982-1983. This species is more vulnerable to climate variations due to the longer time the mother cares for the pups. The pups are largely dependent on the mother's milk for 18 ... read more

This day was divided between Fernandina and Isabela islands. Fernandina (Narborough) Island is the youngest and most volcanically active of the islands. It began erupting a couple of day after we left. Most of it is not open to visitors because of unsafe conditions, but we were able to visit Punta Espinoza. Our walk was over rough lava and sand through areas of tidal pools. Perhaps the most striking thing of the morning walk was the sea lion pups. We saw them nursing, playing together while their mothers were out fishing, and in one case an adventurous pup tried repeatedly to get to open water, while his mother repeatedly blocked his path. Eventually, she held him down with one flipper as they exchanged words. I am not fluent in sea lion, but I am pretty sure ... read more

Our activities today were all on Genovesa Island. Like just about all of the islands of the Galápagos, Genovesa has its Spanish name and also an English name, in this case Tower Island. It is also known informally as Bird Island because of the large number and numerous types of seabirds which nest here and raise their young, and also smaller birds that are restricted to land. Like most of the islands in the Galápagos, it is a shield volcano, although active within historical times. The center is a large caldera with one wall blown out during an eruption so that the island virtually encloses Bahia Darwin (Darwin Bay). We started our day at El Barranco and then Bahia Darwin. El Barranco gave us a prelude of the rest of the entire trip - you are ... read more