Okay. I have to warn you. I took a lot of photos in the Galapagos. I mean, a lot! I sort of lost all sense of the appropriate number of photos to take and share, because the cruise of the Galapagos Islands was far and away the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. I’m not exaggerating. Every day was full of incredible experiences and wildlife and scenery. Also, since I did a fair amount of SCUBA diving in the Galapagos, I decided it would make sense to learn how to identify all the different ocean life I was seeing. So I’ve included a bunch of photos here I took of the more interesting creatures. (I ordered an underwater housing for my camera on Christmas Day, and Christine took care of shipping it down to Quito in time for me to pick up before the cruise. Christine rocks!)
So anyway, there are a lot of photos here, as well as quite a few videos. My apologies if they seem boring or excessive to you, especially since I am only in a small percentage of them. But the exciting thing is that I actually took all these photos and videos (with the exception of the small number of photos featuring me, of course!). So ideally, they should be semi-exciting to you because you can think, “ohmigosh! Rob was actually there and actually saw this firsthand.” If that doesn’t work, have a Nutella crêpe with a caipiriñha chaser – most likely, you’ll slip into a sugar coma and by the time you recover, we’ll have moved on to Uruguay…
Arriving at Galapagos Airport. Iguanas come out on the tarmac to greet us.
My first sea lion in the Galapagos, dozing on a bench near the jetty where we met our boat. He couldn’t have cared less that there were hordes of tourists passing through.
Our catamaran, the Nemo I. Home for the next seven nights!
Half of the al fresco dining area on board the Nemo I.
My cruise companions for the next week. Standing, from left-to-right, Evelyn from Paris, Ole from Denmark, John (my cabinmate) from Sweden, Nickie and Dan from London, Eric and Diane from New Jersey, Bernd from Austria. Squatting, from left-to-right, Anne Grete from Denmark, Ullie from Austria, and me. This photo is actually out of order, as it was taken at Post Office Bay on Floreana Island on the fourth day of our cruise. Post Office Bay used to have a barrel where whalers left mail, and any captain of a boat that was heading to where the mail was addressed would deliver it. It’s a tradition that is carried on today. You can see the barrel to the right of us. We went through the many postcards left there by others, and each took one or more we would be sure to hand deliver to its intended destination. I took one for Montevideo, Uruguay, and one for New York City. I didn’t actually leave any postcards because seven weeks into my trip, I still haven’t bought a single postcard…
The wildlife watching begins! A Sally Lightfoot Crab.
Greater Flamingos
Self-portrait of me snorkeling. Not a very good idea for this particular locale, as it was semi-rough surf, and boats kept coming and going through the same area. I actually got knocked onto and over some rocks and bruised and scraped up my left arm. I was hoping this was not going to be representative of the rest of my sea life watching in the Galapagos. (It wasn't.)
Me on the Nemo I at sunset on the first day.
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