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Galapagos Cruise - 11 islands in 8 days

By : Glory Moore
Trip Begins December 10, 2009
Trip Ends December 17, 2009

Jaw dropping flora and fauna in the Galapagos Islands. Spectacular guides with a wealth of knowledge. Amazing photography opportunities. Quite possibly the best vacation I have taken thus far. I highly recommend extending your stay on the mainland of Ecuador to experience the culture too.
See my photos : Galapagos aboard the Millennium

Want to go? Millennium: 7 Day Tour - Saturday

I went to: Galapagos, Santa Cruz Island, Santiago, Santa Fe, South Plaza Island, North Seymour, Espanola, Floreana, Rabida, San Cristobal, Lobos, Charles Darwin Center
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December 10, 2009
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The Start of Something Special

San Cristobal, Galapagos

The trip is off to a grand start. Got settled in on the Millennium, organized the photo bag and then headed back to the island for a trip to the educational center. Great photography opportunities arose with beautiful flowers and a Cactus Ground Finch eating a Prickly Pear Cactus flower, head covered in pollen (photo in album). I'm learning early that covering more ground doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to see more. Going slow is the way to go...you let nature move at it's pace, and observe.

Walked back to the pier (instead of taking the bus) and got my first sea lion and pup photos along the way. Also received insite as to the way nature and man are clashing on the island. The construction going on to keep pace with tourism is negatively impacting the wildlife.

Our guide, Hanzel, is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about sharing his wealth of information. This is going to be an awesome trip!

December 11, 2009
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Am I Dreaming?

Espanola, Galapagos

If I didn't have the photos to prove it, I'd think I was dreaming. Quite possibly one of my favorite islands this trip. The weather being perfect made it that much more magical. Took tons (and by tons I mean several gigs) of photos of sea lions, marine iguanas, nazca boobies and blue footed boobies. The icing on the cake was having a female sea lion come up to me and put her head in my lap! I was a bit nervous but luckily had a wide angle lens on and snapped a few photos before she moved on. What a wonderful day!

December 12, 2009
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So Close (in more ways than one)

Floreana, Galapagos

The morning weather started off a bit on the dreary side which didn't make for spectacular photography, but that didn't stop me from shooting a lot of flamingo photos. One of my ''so close'' moments was during our visit on the island it appeared we had just missed a turtle returning to the ocean from laying her nest. There was also a false crawl which looked very fresh as well. SO CLOSE! One of the most awe inspiring things to witness in life is watching a turtle dig a nest, lay her eggs, cover the nest and return to the ocean.

The other ''so close'' moment came at Post Office Bay where, while we were sorting through all the postcards dropped into the whiskey barrel, we found a card being sent to a woman that lived down the beach from us in Florida. She was SO CLOSE that we drove it to her and hand delivered it when we returned. How neat is that? We're now facebook friends!

December 13, 2009
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The Land of Giants

Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos

Giant land tortoises, that is. Our trip up into the highlands was, again, a bit damp, but that will never stop me from having a great time! What interesting creatures these land tortoises are, and it doesn't take long to learn their body language. It's basically move or I'll run you over.

Walked through a lava tube also. Got some really neat photographs!

Also got to meet Lonesome George, the famous ''last of his kind'' land tortoise.

UPDATE: Lonesome George has since passed away... his species is now extinct.

December 14, 2009
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It Just Gets Better

Santa Fe, Galapagos

Another successful day of photography! Not only did I get the usual band of characters -- land iguanas, baby sea lions, Galapagos hawk -- but I was able to photograph a Galapagos sea turtle while snorkeling. He was HUGE (yes, it was definitely a HE) and he was very comfortable in our presence. He even came close enough to me that he bumped his nose on my dome port (underwater housing for my camera). Have I mentioned how much I love this place?!

December 15, 2009
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Red Sand and Raw Soles

Santiago, Galapagos

First stop of the day was on the beautiful island of Rabida with it's gorgeous red sand beaches. We then moved on to James Bay on Santiago island. The spectacular hike was overshadowed by my poor choice of foot wear. Though Teva sandals sounded like a good idea, the sand wore my foot arches raw. Tennis shoes would have probably been a better choice! Loved snorkeling among the playful sea lions, and another sea turtle. Again, these days just keep getting better!!!

December 16, 2009
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Birds, Birds Everywhere

North Seymour, Galapagos

First stop -- Bartolome. This is where they filmed Master and Commander. If you ever wondered what it might be like to walk on the moon (with gravity) this would be the place to explore. It's most famous landmark is Pinnacle Rock. And yes, we did the cheesie photo pinching the tip of it. Also, nothing like seeing penguins in nature! They are SO CUTE!

North Seymour was bird city!!! Hundreds of Blue Footed Boobies doing their mating dance and frigate birds with chicks. I could have spent all day there... but with plenty of sunscreen on!!! No clouds today!

December 17, 2009
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A Final Farewell

Lobos, Galapagos

Lobos Island was a great spot for some final photo ops before heading back home. Took one of my favorite sea lion pup shots there, as well as some more frigate bird and marine iguana photos.

Our arrival back at San Cristobal island met us with a surprise, and sadness. As we approached the dock we could see about 5 scientists/vets with a sea lion in a net. One was sitting on her up by her head, one was pushing on her lower abdomen and at least three more were at her back end. Apparently what was happening was a breach birth. As we found out later from one of the people helping with the birth (as far as we could tell since he was telling us in Spanish) is that she had been in labor since 7:00 AM (we arrived on scene around 10:00 AM) and was having difficulty. The breach pup was dead when they finally pulled it out, but the mother was going to be okay. It also sounded as if she had two pups. I don't know if the one we saw being delivered was the first or second pup. Went back to the dock later, and mom was gone, so I packed up my photo bag, drank the last of my mojito, and headed off to my next adventure!

1-5 of 117 imagesMy Travel Photo Album


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