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
Ecuador
December 21, 2018 - January 11, 2019
Starting out onboard our boat – the Tip Top II. Starting from the island of Baltra after landing at the local airport.
Viva Ecuador!
At our first stop in between the Island of Baltra and North Kennedy – signs are good for the trip – Hammerhead spotted witin minutes of stopping.
The landscape of the islands is very different from what we expected. Rocky with dry trees (waiting for rain), some shrubs and lots of succulents.
The wildlife started pretty quickly – an "ugly pelican"… although this one was pretty nice.
A few sea lions
and some swallowtail gulls – pretty big and very attractive looking birds.
and our first booby for the trip… there will be many, many more.
Sullivan Bay
Total Distance: 2.34km
Duration: —
1545462540 1545471120Elevation: 4.31m – 15.47m
Total ascent: 100.16m
Total descent: 97.84m
Second day and our first shore trip – on the island of Santiago. The walk is across fairly recent (early 1800's-ish) lava fields
The ubuquitous Sally Lightfoot Crab… WAY too many photos of these.
Ugly pelican in action
Some vegetation survives, but not much.
Lots of lava lizards though.
The lava created a vast array of shapes and structures. It is easy to imagine it still moving and bubbling.
Calcium carbonate brought out by rain helps outline some of the cracks and shapes.
Our main group is 11 people plus two guides. There are another four on the boat as part of a different tour group.
Older lava flows provide a stark contrast to the newer dark black lava.
One of the larger "hornitos" – this would have once been bubbling out lava.
Our guides – I tihnk they might have been in the islands a little too long…
Some more "vegetation"… the botanists on the tour would remember what it was…
Where the lava stopped.
Some of the shapes look like crumpled sheets.
Others like frayed rope.
Looks like it is still flowing.
A lava cactus – another of the pioneer species. Extremely slow growing, this cactus only occurs in the galapagos and only in about a dozen locations.
Swirling lava.
Our first penguin – a Galapagos penguin – darting around the shoreline at the end of the walk.
A yellow warbler… these were quite amazing the first time before we realised they are pretty much everywhere… very pretty though.
yep, another crab.
After the walk, our first snorkel (in the same area)
Urchin.
not a pengiun
Lots of puffer fish.
and lots of parrot fish
nice wrasse
lots and lots and lots of surgeonfish
can you see it?
the first of many sharks on our snorkels – all just whitetips
"Chocolate Chip" starfish
boobies
close to boobies
more shark
rock full of sea lions and marine iguanas at the end of the snorkel.
Heading back to the boat.
The "sand" on the islands varied hugely. Our next stop was on the Island of Rabida and its red beach.
Very red.
Some old friends.
and a miniature plover – a killdeer.
our first finches.
and a mockingbird.
Both the finches and the mockingbirds vary from island to island – these where what formed a significant part of the development of Darwin's theories.
The local doves are very pretty.
One of the first of many marine iguanas.
Our only snake – you might need to zoom though… right in the middle of the photo.
Cactus flowre
A hawk that allowed us to get ridiculously close – about 2m away.
The galapagos isn't just about the nice bits of life – evidence of death is very prevalent. This was once an iguana.
and some sort of bird.
Storm Petrels almost walk on water when they stop and grab something to eat. They tend to hang out behind the boat most of the time
Our first land trip for the day is at Punta Espinosa on Isla Fernandina all the way to the west. Full of marine iguanas.
Punta Espinosa
Total Distance: 1.97km
Duration: —
1545549360 1545559620Elevation: 0.92m – 14.15m
Total ascent: 92.64m
Total descent: 84.83m
and of course some sea lions
but the iguanas are the highlight
crabs of course
but lots and lots of iguanas
Lava lizards make a showing as well
Male iguanas jostle for position and for females
Lots of showing off, head-bobbing and a few fights.
They let you get ridiculously close
Lava lizards and finches jump around and on the iguanas chasing insects.
Sea lions are never far away. Like the iguanas, they don't care much about humans.
Nursrey areas are home to young ones which are painfully cute.
Some iguanas are in full show-off mode.
But others are still more colourful.
Oyster catchers again
And a Galapagos hawk hanging out on the beach… probably eying off young iguanas.
Juvenile Sally Lightfoot crab.
Some of the beach is full of interesting bits and pieces. The long things are pencil urchin spines.
Young lava gull (I think)… less than 1000 exist.
Itty bitty baby sea lion
and the rest of the family
Note the three young iguanas lower right.
The very odd flightless cormorant. Only 1000-2000 left and it is the only flightless seabird aside from penguins. Note the bright blue eye.
Big male sea lion protecting his patch of beach.
Closest we got to see an iguana feeding "underwater"…
Flightless cormorant showing off its ridiculous little wings.
Green turtle getting some sun.
Not all iguanas are so pretty.
but there is new life on the way.
crabs, more crabs.
The biggest lava cactus we came across… must be extremely old.
Remnants of a Bryde's whale.
More pengiun sightings.
And more life in motion on the way back to the boat.
In for another snorkel – stingrays were common sightings.
Lots of sea cucumbers
and lots of different types of urchins.
A flightless cormorant joined us briefly but wasn't too excited about hanging around with strange humans.
Green turtles showed up pretty regularly too.
Various types of puffer fish were around, but this one was particularly interested.
Mostly about trying to bite my thumb.
A wrasse (can't rememer what type).
On to our third day and the Frigatebirds put on a show around the boat.
Males have a red membrane which they blow up when showing off to the ladies.
There were about 20 or so hanging around above the boat.
Juveline frigatebird
and another ugly pelican trying to take the prize for best photo of the trip.
For the afternoon, instead of a snorkel, we head to a mangrove area to cruise around in the dinghy… sounded a bit boring, turns out it wasn't… First up though, an island full of different spe…
A female carpenter bee… apparently seeing the female is very rare.
A lava heron (not on lava).
Turns out the pengiuns love mangroves… they were everywhere.
Juveniles included
Great blue heron
And lots of turtles. It was extremely calm in the mangroves, so it was really easy to see everything.
Including what is colloquially known as a "Tree Lion".
So many pengiuns.
Two pengiuns crusing around in front of another group.
This was pretty cool though – 8 golden rays just under the surface. These were quite small and an amazing sight.
In the end, it was quite an amazing afternoon. So different seeing pengiuns in mangroves. Very different and one of the best parts of the trip.
ok, finches. Bird people get super excited about these finches, but they all look pretty similar. The differences are in size and shape of the beak as well as overall size. Other than that, they are e…
Probably a medium ground finch – male
female
female yellow warbler
finches…
The male carpenter bee (female earlier)
These guys are a bit cuter than the finches – a flycatcher… keep posted for some more "interactive" photos later…
the ground… different island, different ground.
Finch.
And our first land iguana. These vary in size and colour across the islands. These were some of the brighter ones.
up close
Urvina Bay
Total Distance: 1.19km
Duration: —
1545638880 1545643800Elevation: 5.31m – 16.29m
Total ascent: 29.98m
Total descent: 31.45m
A fly that was hanging around long enough to photograph.
Finch.
But this then got a bit more exciting. All up, we came across 7 giant tortoises in the wild on this day… pretty cool.
Various sizes, mostly small to medium.
But this one was quite a bit bigger.
And they absolutely don't care about humans…. unless you are blocking where they want to go, in which case they get a bit annoyed.
Poor Dave got ever so slowly "chased" down the path…
Finch.
The tide pools had quite the mix of algaes and other interesting bits and pieces.
Crab. Again.
The storm petrel… hard to get a good shoot, so this was about the best I could do.
The boat became a roosting ground for frigatebirds while we were underway.
which made close-ups pretty easy
The land is all bent and stretched from uplifts and volcanic action. Most of the trees are leafless and waiting for rains.
A neighbouring boat with its own collection of frigatebirds.
Teeny tiny hammerhead – was probably only about 1m long.
And its much bigger parent.
Underwater again and lots of urchins.
not to mention different starfish
and brittlestars
Tagus Cove
Total Distance: 2.98km
Duration: —
1545665760 1545672540Elevation: -53.70m – 116.34m
Total ascent: 201.79m
Total descent: 146.53m
On our next land excursion, the sealions tend to choose the middle of paths for their favourite spots.
Lots of old graffiti from visiting sailors and pirates. The oldest you should be able to make out is 1836 – carved into the rock in the foreground.
More evidence of the volcanic activity – this is accretionary lapilli – formed in the atmosphere when volcanic ash clumps around droplets of moisture. Essentially volcanic hail.
A finch nest.
Looking back over Darwin Lake.
Big land iguana.
The group of us who walked up to the top of the ridge.
And the panorama from the top.
Christmas eve on the bridge as we cross the equator.
Wellington – our chef.
Some of the crew ready to serve up Christmas eve dinner.
The whole boat.
Christmas day and new sand. Did you expect something more exciting?
Puerto Egas / James Bay
Total Distance: 2.68km
Duration: —
1545722580 1545731820Elevation: -0.36m – 18.39m
Total ascent: 59.84m
Total descent: 78.59m
This flycatcher decided that it was particularly interested in shiny glass things like the front of my camera.
Finch.
Cactus.
Flycatcher – different one.
Sealion, tired of all the finches.
Did I mention that there are marine iguanas here? Different island though, so different colours.
For a change, now we have sealion, iguana AND a hawk…
Lava and ash.
More ground, different again.
Little cups in the lava – drilled out by bits of rock and other stuff along with wave action.
One of the cuter ones.
Them's fightin' words.
It moved, so needed another photo. Actually, I think it is a different one.
Plover
Wimbrel, one of Kate's favourites.
Chunk of rock… just looked cool.
Oyster catches "befriending" an urchin. They were feeding each other ,it was very cute.
The yellow warbler. There were a lot of photos to get this one!
So, the other sealion photos were just to prepare you for the cuteness of this one. Painful!
Even insects are cool here.
More trees waiting for rain.
More stingray.
See previous.
Ditto.
This is a bit different though. This is a lava tube. We had to ask if it was artificial.
Kate. Pengiun.
Bartolome
Total Distance: 1.62km
Duration: —
1545753720 1545758820Elevation: 1.80m – 107.84m
Total ascent: 135.26m
Total descent: 112.92m
This is on the flanks of one of the smaller, extinct volcanoes. Not much living here.
Without the boardwalk it would have been a very difficult walk in soft ash.
This is the part of the volcano which blew apart.
Old volcanic cones
Volcanic rock with obsidian.
Looking down from the volcano.
And looking across the lava fields which we walked around on day 2.
Merry Christmas!
Our boat.
Starting to see more penguins.
Day 6 and after an overnight transit, we are at Chinese Hat (Sombrero Chino).
First time we have got close to what we would consider a "beach".
Sombrero Chino
Total Distance: 0.80km
Duration: —
1545808020 1545810840Elevation: 2.91m – 16.12m
Total ascent: 34.56m
Total descent: 42.15m
Nice white coral sands, but still lots of lava and succulents.
and cactus of course.
Succulents up close.
Life and death is still prevalent. Quite a few sealions were in pretty poor shape waiting for their parents to come back from feeding. This is just normal. Lots don't survive.
Great Blue heron again.
There were still lots of very healthy and playful sealion cubs of course.
Crab starting to moult.
This little one was pretty new and hadn't quite worked out how to feed. It was just trying to bit and lick in the wrong spots.
The lizards help chase the flies.
Because of the dry weather, the succulents were pretty amazing colours. Once the rain starts, they will go green.
A lava tube/bridge.
A lovely shade of lipstick. This was one of the more colourful ones, but they get even more vibrant on one of the southern islands (which we didn't go to).
This was the best snorkelling that we had in terms of visibility. Was really nice.
And lots of fish.
and other little friends!
and a visit by a curious adolescent
It played around us for quite a while.
The video is a bit jumpy, but it is Kate right in front of the camera at the beginning making bubbles.
This is what a fish sees of a pelican.
and of course more sharks.
A different urchin.
New island, new beach.
Another yellow warbler.
Marine iguana again, this time much smaller and much darker.
Cerro Dragon
Total Distance: 2.07km
Duration: —
1545839400 1545844140Elevation: -2.23m – 30.39m
Total ascent: 38.12m
Total descent: 52.39m
Sandpiper of some sort…
cactuses are getting bigger… the iguana is waiting for some fruit or flowers to fall.
A very new cactus.
Land iguanas were very bright here.
A nice wetland in behind the beach.
Santa Cruz
Total Distance: 50.91km
Duration: —
1545896220 1545922320Elevation: 10.39m – 617.34m
Total ascent: 830.17m
Total descent: 970.48m
And now a full-day trip to the highlands of Isla Santa Cruz. To our surprise, there are tortoises everywhere. They sometimes cause trafic jams.
This is a massive lava tube. It goes under a nearby road, the main road across the island. The local government is a bit worried because it could collapse.
A large pit crater. The day is cloudy and drizzly, unlike down on the coast.
Proper rainforest up here.
Little fungus farm.
And then to a "tortoise farm". It is a site which was a cattle farm but they realised that they could make more money from tourists.
They are half way between being a normal farm and being a full tourist operation.
The tortoises roam free across the property (by law). You aren't allowed to pen them in or out.
Cacao pod on a tree at our lunch stop.
A nice spot for lunch.
And now the Charles Darwin Research Station. Here they research and breed the different tortoises from the different islands, keeping the strains separate. It seems that the two in the middle of this…
Some little ones.
Some really little ones.
And the smallest…
One of the "saddleback" varieties.
A local game of ecua-volley for Chris.
You guessed it. The ground.
Swallowtail gull collecting a present for its mate.
Turns out frigatebirds can fly with their throat inflated.
Baby frigatebird.
Male frigatebird showing his colours.
Cactus. Iguana.
This is the island of North Seymour… still waiting for rain.
Hah. Boobies.
Showing off.
Land iguana up close.
More babies.
Big baby.
Different ground.
Young iguana – probably last year's
Cattle egret, much the same as in oz.
Really showing off.
Looking for the ladies overhead… even though he had one beside him.
Brown noddy.
Lots of birds.
We had no idea that there were Flamingos here, turns out there are!
It didn't like the iguana… moved the other way pretty quickly.
Birds or butterflies???
This morning's catch… on the back deck when everyone got up.
Now on Isla Genovesa, home to a huge number of boobies. First up is the Nazca booby.
A heron pair hiding from the boobies.
Tower Island
Total Distance: 1.91km
Duration: —
1546068780 1546076580Elevation: 3.34m – 25.66m
Total ascent: 105.44m
Total descent: 90.59m
Kate might not approve of jumping to the punchline first but this is a red-footed booby. Now one of Kate's favourities.
The brown varient of the red-footed booby.
Nazcas having a "discussion"
A gift.
The red-footed boobies have quite an amazing bill.
This is more like the reality of the Galapagos.
and the strange short-eared owl. On this island there is no competition and no predators, so it is no longer nocturnal.
Another friendly bird – a mockingbird this time.
The owl again. If it wasn't for the pole, this might have been a perfect photo.
A tropicbird tucked away under a rock… more proper photos of these soon.
There were lots of birds here.
A tropicbird.
The owl in its pyjamas.
The local marine iguana. This is the smallest of all of them – only about 300g.
A very fresh chick. There was half an eggshell just beside it, so must have hatched that morning. The challenge for its sibling (still in the egg in the background) will be killed by this one. So cute…
If it survives its parent's foot of course.
Cruising around on the kayaks.
Young swallowtail gull.
Ruddy turnstone
Juvenile booby hangout joint.
More life on its way.
Eagle ray in the shallows. We swam with them for perhaps 10 minutes.
South Plaza Island
Total Distance: 1.65km
Duration: —
1546153440 1546162140Elevation: 5.87m – 25.69m
Total ascent: 84.25m
Total descent: 92.82m
This was a surprise for the guides – a marine iguana and a land iguana fighting. This is on an island where they have interbred, creating infertile hybrids, but they had never seen them fighting.
The marine iguana won. It has better grip because it had longer claws.
The inside structure of a cactus.
This was an extremely young pup meeting its mum. It was only hours old – still had the umbilical cord.
Shearwater trying to work out when to jump.
Frigatebird chasing a tropicbird for its lunch.
Red-billed tropicbird. Tried for quite a while to get a decent photo, hence why there are a few here.
Golden ray.
Land iguanas fighting.
Santa Fe Island
Total Distance: 1.14km
Duration: —
1546180920 1546186020Elevation: -25.78m – 16.81m
Total ascent: 80.13m
Total descent: 51.17m
A very pale land iguana – this island has the palest subspecies.
It also has the biggest cactus – this would have been perhaps 4m tall.
But they start out like this.
Boobies.
And now to Quito. The presidential palace in the main square.
Church. The inside was completely covered in gold leaf (no photos allowed but search for Compañía de Jesús, Quito)
A beautiful old building where we had dinner – it is part of the bishop's quarters that has been opened up to businesses.
More old buildings.
The main cathedral.
Instead of gargoyles, it is surrounded by animals of various types. Some armadillos and perhaps some wild cats of some sort?
I think these are a poor attempt at iguanas, but not really sure.
Looking over the old town towards the statue of the virgin mary.
Walking along top of the basilica to get to the towers. The arches below are the arches of the vaulted roof of the church below.
The virgin.
Colourful niehgbourhood.
Potatoes… all the potatoes.
And different varieties of passionfruit – the big one was super sweet, the smaller one quite sour.
The "middle of the earth". This is the "official" ecuator monument but it is about 200m south of the GPS location. It was built in the '30s though so they got pretty close.
And the "official" ecuator. Turns out that this is also not the ecuator but just happens to be where someone owned a property and started a business.
Proof that the "real" ecuator is still about 100m up the road… it should read much closer to "0" Latitude.
And up the "hill" behind Quito. The city itself is quite narrow but very long. It sits in the "inter-andean valley".
We didn't walk up there… is a bit of a hike, but popular.
The virgin at night. It is made of Aluminium. Donated by the French I tihnk. They seem to like donating statues to countries.
Christmas still going. This was up beside the Vrigin Mary.
Pasochoa Reserve
Total Distance: 10.95km
Duration: —
1546766880 1546791600Elevation: 2789.78m – 3661.95m
Total ascent: 948.46m
Total descent: 955.36m
And off on our first hike. This one was in some remnant temperate rainforest. Quite a lot of uphill on this day.
I seemed to struggle more than Kate. The last 1km getting to this spot was a battle.
Nice forest though.
Our 1580's mainsion for the evening.
The trees along the driveway are some of the oldest eucalypts in the country.
Cotapaxi volcano pufing away in the distance. Our hike today is to the left of the volcano (out of view).
Cotopaxi
Total Distance: 10.56km
Duration: —
1546847400 1546863780Elevation: 3831.64m – 4072.08m
Total ascent: 301.15m
Total descent: 350.28m
Beginning of the next hike up a quite valley.
Sneaky hummingbird nesting in the roof of a hut.
Very nice little valley.
This is the flower that the hummingbirds are after. At this point, hummingbirds were just high speed blurs and fleeting glimpses… that is due to change…
Club mosses
Quilotoa
Total Distance: 10.20km
Duration: —
1546934040 1546954020Elevation: 3735.20m – 3921.68m
Total ascent: 696.15m
Total descent: 729.28m
After a 2 hour-ish drive into the mountains, our next hike. A walk around the rim of this old volcano – Quilotoa. The hike literally goes around the ridge – about 11km. Down to the lake is about 400m…
A lot of the ridge was super-soft layered ash. Quickly crumbled when you touched it.
THe top of the ridge was pretty narrow around most of it.
From almost the beginning again.
Was surprisingly cold but a spectacular hike.
A different hummingbird. We don't see this one again, so might as well include it.
A final look back to Cotapaxi. On one day we could see perhaps 8 or more volcanoes in the region.
Local town square.
And then we went to the Bellavist cloud forsest for a couple of days… birds, lots of birds. This one is a masked flower piercer.
I could try to remember all of the names of the hummingbirds, but I would be here for weeks, so suffiice to say that they all have weird names and several look very similar.
Bellavista
Total Distance: 5.91km
Duration: —
1547110680 1547138520Elevation: 2213.48m – 2375.66m
Total ascent: 330.84m
Total descent: 367.03m
Cloud because cloud forest.
Our first toucan. We weren't convinced we would see them. We ended up seeing perhaps a dozen.
Tiny frog… but this is a "big" one.
Ecuador has the highest diversity of epiphytes in the world.
Beuatiful forest. Very lush and dense.
bird
different bird
maybe the previous one.
Not the previous one.
see previous
not a hummingbird. Blue-winged mountain tanager.
Back to hummingbirds…
This one was particular hard to spot… very small and super fast.
Brief squirrel interlude.
Yes, a bird.
Small fat bird.
bird with long beak.
Not a hummingbird.
Also not a hummingbird. Somehow this is a frog.
Smaller than a blade of grass.
A type of woodpecker.
A woodcreeper
This one was a particularly rare one. Our hiking guide was a birder and he had never seen one – a white-faced nunbird.
Two toucan.
Squirrel cuckoo.
Femaie Trogan.
More nunbirds.
and back to some hummingbirds.
Bellavista day 2
Total Distance: 3.70km
Duration: —
1547196720 1547212020Elevation: 2215.83m – 2364.69m
Total ascent: 181.39m
Total descent: 288.93m
These flowers were aproximately 2mm in size.
Bleeding heart flower.
This is what they make the panama hats – more correctly called Ecuador hats – from. The long stems that is… it is a palm-like plant but not a palm.
This next rather ridiculous collection of birds is from a different lodge that we dropped past on the way back from the cloud forest.
yes, too many birds…
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