Every year is different: this time the islands were very noticeably dry. The rainy season rains just never came this year, although a couple of unseasonal downpours did their best to soak us, and revive the arid vegetation a little. As a result, botanising was pretty sparse.
Turtles were also much less visible than I've become useful, so much so that we didn't see any at all whilst snorkeling, a bit of a disappointment.
But the islands are never anything less than spectacular... and this year we enjoyed displaying and mating Waved Albatrosses, Galapagos Penguins and Galapagos Sealions swimming around us, some very confiding snakes, finches of every shape and size, a Bryde's Whale in front of the boat, the wonderful seabird colonies of Genovesa and point blank views of both the islands' owls.
The trip report is now up in the usual place, and the full flickr gallery as well. Enjoy!
Galapagos Short-eared Owl, waiting for a passing storm petrel, on Genovesa
a juvenile Galapagos Hawk surveys his kingdom (Bartholome, with Santiago in the distance)
a male Large Ground Finch chomps his way through Tournefourtia fruit
Waved Albarosses doing their thing
A big old male San Cristobal Giant Tortoise looming through the scrub...
and the tiny (15mm) San Cristobal Leaf-toed Gecko. Not really sure what the leaf-toes are about...
Stunning photos of a place that has always held my interest! Those Waved Albatross are unique-looking birds and how wonderful to see an Owl hunt in the daylight.
ReplyDeleteGalapagos is an amazing place. It's a ridiculous priviledge to be able to go back year after year.
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