Galapagos!

Well, it was AMAZING.  The catamaran was very nice, there were 15 passengers (10 from USA, 2 Germans, 1 Austrian, 1 Dutch, 1 Italian), good food, our suite was luxurious, there was lots of physical excitement rocking and rolling in the rough waters.  We traveled around, landing on and snorkeling around 8 of the 100+ islands.  Each day included a couple of hikes and a couple of snorkeling opportunities as well as boat rides around other shores, in little dinghys.  We never developed sea legs.


The wildlife above and below water was unbelievable -- more relaxed, more plentiful, more varied, more available than I'd imagined.  Our photo coverage of the land and its life is plentiful; underwater, which was perhaps even more impressive than land, was barely photographed with a disposable camera, results of which probably suck.

The birds, sea lions, sea turtles, tortoises and iguanas were astonishing .  We hit mating season for frigate birds, saw lots of blue footed boobies and their babies, swam with and watched flightless cormorants, sea turtles, penguins, dolphins and marine iguanas, and on and on.  Our full list of species and accompanying photos is lush. A few highlights:

Blue-footed booby with her month-old chick.  Mature females have the bluest feet. 

Male frigate bird, with fully inflated neck gear, accompanied by balloon-amplified beak clacking, to attract the ladies. 

Baby sea lion, probably about a week old -- awakened by the excitement of our arrival. 

Marine iguanas -- hundreds of thousands on the islands.  They feed on algae underwater, and warm themselves by hanging out with colony friends in the sun.  Big ones are about 50 inches.

A Galapagos giant land tortoise.  Santa Cruz Island version. 

Our boat, the Anahi.