This is the itinerary for Wednesday. It's another action packed day.
Today we were off to Cerro Dragon to see the land iguanas. These iguanas are bigger than the marine variety and the males have yellow colouring while the females are smaller and dark grey in colour. We see about 25 of these animals on our walk. I can't get over how unafraid these animals are of these giant humans walking nearby to them. They know we're there, and will stare back at us, but generally ignore the paparazzi taking photos of them. We are required to keep a respectful distance and are forbidden to touch any of the animals. The no touch rule is easy for me, but appears to be more difficult for Judith who wants to pet the cute sea lions.
On our walk we pass by a pond with a single pink flamingo. At one point a duck gets too close to him and he chases it away.
Here are some specimens of male land iguanas.
During the trip we see giant prickly pear cactus. There are sharp barbs all around the trunk.
And this a flower from the cactus.
We went back on board for anther lecture on the Galápagos. This time it's before lunch and I'm able to stay awake for all of it. It was about the history of man's colonization of the area. The islands currently have about 30,000 inhabitants and there are strict regulations who can live there. Property can only be sold to an inhabitant as they do not want to increase the population already there. It's expensive to live there as everything has to be brought in.
The crew also provide instructions on the checking out requirements. We need to settle our accounts, make sure the luggage is tagged and outside the cabin door by 6:00 am before you go for breakfast and fill the gratuity/tip envelopes with money. They even recommend how much each person is to put in: $8.00 per day for the guide and $20 per day for the ship's crew. For my 4 days that's an extra $112. Our guide looked after about 15 of us, so if everybody paid the recommended amount, it would be about $500 for the 4 days.
The cruise functions like clockwork. Getting people fed, in and out of the zodiacs for shore excursions, lectures, making and cleaning the rooms daily, etc, etc., takes a significant amount of coordination and effort to make sure everything runs smoothly. And tipping once into a pooled fund, hopefully ensures that all staff from the engine room, kitchen, housekeeping, zodiac drivers, bridge, etc, get a fair cut of the tip proceeds.
We have our lunch and then head upstairs for the photo contest from the guests. Judith is all over me submitting a couple of my pictures and when she learns that I'm really not keen, we agree that she can submit them under her name. These are the two she picks:
1. Galápagos Tourtoise Scat
That's my shoe in the picture which I added for a size reference. It was the only picture of tortoise scat. It did get a chuckle out of the crowd.
2. Male Frigate bird
I took this picture at the lunch barbecue on the back deck. There were lots of frigates riding the breeze and I managed to get this one centered in the frame. The part of his neck is like a balloon and he puffs it out to attract a female.
Judith didn't win; there were some beautiful wildlife photos that only a telephoto lens can best capture.
There was some deep water snorkelling activity that Judith went to participate. I didn't go because I'm not so comfortable with my ability to go snorkelling jumping from a boat as opposed to walking in from the shore. I want to be standing when I'm testing whether my breathing gear works. The deep water snorkellers had a great time, even seeing a shark swim by. Yikes! Here's the deep water snorkellers on their way back to the ship
Next up was the ice cream bar. We filled up large parfait glasses with raspberry, mango and chocolate flavoured ice cream, and added fruit, crispy and other toppings. It was a fun treat and everybody came together for a bit of socializing.
Our next excursion was to North Seymour Island to check out nursing areas for frigates and boobies. It was really interesting.
We see a number of blue footed baby chicks. This one still has quite a bit of down.
This one was testing his wings.
The boobies mate for life. One of them stays by the chick while the other goes to find food.
We see a a whole bunch of baby frigates who can't fly yet. They wait around for the mother to come back with food. The baby chick then reaches in for its meal. Male (black with a red neck pouch) and sometimes other female (with white chest marking) frigates hover close by and try to steal a free meal.
A mother frigate feeding her chick.
Here's a video of the feeding and a male frigate trying for a free meal.
The male frigate bird attracts a mate by puffing out his red pouch. The female comes by to check out his nest to see if it meets her standards.
I took this picture of a bird taking off but I don't know what kind it is. It has a distinctive tail shape. You'll note the amount of guano on the rocks. The frigates won't come back to nest in areas with guano.
And these are swallow tail gulls. They don't squawk at all. They hunt at night so the noise the make is a clicking sound for echo location - like bats.
To get back into the zodiac, we had to climb over one of the gull's nest. The gull mother stayed on the nest the whole time while one of the staff straddled over it to help the rest of us into the zodiac.
We ended the day with a goodbye toast on board followed by dinner. Tomorrow we leave the ship and need to place our luggage outside our cabin door by 6:00 am.
Love all your pictures, but the male iguana shots are fabulous. And the male frigate birds. And the boobies. Heck, they're all great (as was the video of the feeding).
ReplyDeleteWhen are we going on the next holiday? :)
Nancy F.