The Galapagos Islands are very remote - almost 1,000 km west of the coast of Ecuador. The draw for tourists is the wildlife - there is a large number of species and the animals have no fear of people. This allows you to have lots of close encounters.
We spent five days in Galapagos and visited several islands.
Santa Cruz Island was our first stop. The island has lots of giant tortoises. They are protected and roam over various parts of the island. We visited a tortoise reserve where the locals are happy to pose for photos.
Santa Cruz and the other Galapagos Islands are volcanic islands just like the Hawaiian Islands. On Santa Cruz, there are lava tubes where lava once flowed across the island and there are also sink holes where lava tubes have collapsed.
Our next day trip was to Santa Fe Island. On Santa Fe, the stars of the show are the sea lions. It was amazing to stand on the beach just a few feet from them. They completely ignore you and go about their day as though you aren't there.
As a bonus, the female sea lions were calving when we were there. There were lots of pups around including a few that were only a day or two old and one that was only a few hours old!
A couple more photos from Santa Fe Island.
More to come from the Galapagos!
Vanessa and Blake
We spent five days in Galapagos and visited several islands.
Santa Cruz Island was our first stop. The island has lots of giant tortoises. They are protected and roam over various parts of the island. We visited a tortoise reserve where the locals are happy to pose for photos.
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| Us with friend |
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| Roaming tortoises |
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| Tortoises love mud baths |
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| Showing us his good side |
Santa Cruz and the other Galapagos Islands are volcanic islands just like the Hawaiian Islands. On Santa Cruz, there are lava tubes where lava once flowed across the island and there are also sink holes where lava tubes have collapsed.
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| Inside a lava tube - looks like a subway tunnel |
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| Us in a lava tube |
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| Us with a sink hole in the background |
Our next day trip was to Santa Fe Island. On Santa Fe, the stars of the show are the sea lions. It was amazing to stand on the beach just a few feet from them. They completely ignore you and go about their day as though you aren't there.
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| Standing up straight for his picture |
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| Blake and friend |
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| Blake with sleeping sea lions |
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| There were sea lions sleeping all across the beach |
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| Not all were sleeping - two males fought in the water |
As a bonus, the female sea lions were calving when we were there. There were lots of pups around including a few that were only a day or two old and one that was only a few hours old!
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| Vanessa with sea lion pup |
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| Something caught his eye and he was on the move |
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| Lots of interesting sights and smells here |
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| Played out after all the excitement |
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| Mom trying to get her hours-old pup to nurse |
A couple more photos from Santa Fe Island.
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| Cacti grow tall and have bark so they don't get eaten by iguanas and tortoises |
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| Great ocean view |
More to come from the Galapagos!
Vanessa and Blake
