Cruising the Mangrove Cove in Elizabeth Bay on Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

This was the second part of our morning’s panga ride. 

Cloud Reflection

As we cruised up to the mangrove cove in our pangas, I noticed this great reflection of the clouds in the water.

Swimming Among the Mangroves

Once again, here are the ever so cool sea turtles, swimming along in the clear water!  What a life!

Sea Lion in a Tree

Here’s something you don’t see every day – a sea lion just camped out in the mangrove trees!

A Big Guy

This guy is one that Jeff captured with his camera, coasting along close to the bottom of the sea – it was fairly shallow at this point.

Close Reflection

I really liked this image of a leaf floating on the water with the mangrove leaves reflecting in the water around and below it.  Now, some of the leaves actually grew below the surface, so this is really kind of an optical illusion – is it a reflection or leaves growing below the surface?  I honestly don’t recall!

Golden Cowrays

Aren’t these just so cool?  I thought these were manta rays, but they are something called Golden Cowrays (I have no idea where the name came from!).  I thought they looked so cool just gliding along below the surface.  I lost count of how many of them there were!

Pelicans at Sea

I loved the image of these pelicans just sort of hanging out on the water a short distance from our panga.

Sea Lion Waving

And, finally, here’s a little sea lion waving goodbye to us!

Enjoy!

 

Last Big Outing – Elizabeth Bay – Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

Altho we have a bit more to see, this was our last big outing – a panga ride in Elizabeth Bay.  Let’s get started….

Water Lines

Before we got on the panga, I enjoyed some wildlife along the Beagle, our boat.  This pelican just peacefully floated alongside us.  Not only did I like his reflection in the relatively calm waters, I love the look of the lines of the water – just flowing along.

Reflective Dancing

I call these birds Jesus Birds because they seem to walk on water – however, I’ve come to find out their formal name is Elliot’s Storm Petrol.  This is one of the clearest images I was lucky enough to take of this little guy – he’s balancing on one foot at this moment, and the reflection is lovely.

Leaving the Beagle

Here’s a view of our friends leaving the Beagle for our outing.  Love the look of the Beagle and the scenery!

Great Blue Heron

Here’s one of our last views of this wonderful bird as he’s sitting on the rocky shore enjoying the morning!

Blue-Footed Boobie

One of the animals I most looked forward to seeing was the blue-footed boobie – not quite sure why, but I sure am glad I got to see a number of these guys!

Pelican Point

I love this image of this pelican – it’s sort of a quiet, reflective image.

Drama at Sea

We had some drama on our last big outing, too.  I purposefully processed these in black & white as a sort of journalistic perspective.  We came across a frigatebird that apparently got too wet, and was waterlogged in the sea.  Another frigatebird hovered nearby, but I’m not certain it meant to help.

Floundering

Here’s another image of the frigatebird in trouble.  The wing of the other frigatebird is in the upper right corner of the image.

Rescue at Sea

Here’s the image of our guide, Fabrizio, rescuing the poor bird.  He used a towel to grab it, so he didn’t inadvertently injure it.  It was very, very scared.  He ended up placing it on the rocky shore just behind the panga.

Beagle

I really liked this image of a pelican and our boat.  I thought it looked especially reflective when I processed it in black & white.

Flying Away

I love this image of a pelican flying away from us.  The perfect position of his wings is just too cool.

Escaping the Surf

Here’s another cool pelican shot.  This guy was just sitting on the rocks, hanging out, when the surf started coming in.  Once it started rushing over the rock on which he was sitting, he decided it was time to go, and I was lucky enough to capture the moment he took wing!

More to come when we cruise thru the mangrove cove growing out of lava rocks in the water, but for now….

Enjoy!



 

Afternoon Hike at Urbina Bay on Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

I thought I’d handle the afternoon hike the same way I did this morning’s hike – just take you along with me, and show you the sights as we saw them.  We are once again on Isabela Island – it’s the largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago.  This time, tho, we will see different animals than we did on our previous visits to Isabela….

Giant Tortoise in the Shade

This is what the Galapagos is most well-known for – the giant tortoises!  And, giant is an appropriate description.  They are really, really big!  Fabrizio, our tour guide, indicated that this one was probably a female because of the shape of her shell….and because she was smaller!

Muyuyu

We were walking thru some lovely vegetation and I couldn’t resist capturing, once again, this beautiful bloom.  It looks both vibrant and yet soft.

Galapagos Mockingbird

We kept hearing this rather loud noise, and when I looked up, here was the source – a Galapagos Mockingbird!  I love this image of him, in his element, enjoying the sun.

Galapagos Land Iguana Up Close

Here’s another new animal – a Galapagos Land Iguana.  Altho the family resemblance is obvious, at least these creatures have a more appealing color to them!  He, too, was pretty big!

In the Trees

One of our fellow travelers spotted this guy back off in the trees, and I really like this image of him.  He’s really in his element, and looks rather forbidding….however, we aren’t a food source for them, so, like their marine cousins, they pretty much leave us alone!

Giant Tortoise Walking

As we were walking along, we came across this tortoise, sort of sharing the path with us….

Posing – HDR Painterly 3

….and then she stopped and just decided to pose for us!  She, too, looks like she’s smiling.  Just happy to live on a beautiful, deserted island, I suppose!

Land Iguana Out for a Walk

Here’s a full-up photo of a land iguana, just to give you an idea of how big they are.  I am fascinated by his front paws (??).  They remind me of human hands in a way.

Galapagos Hawk

When we got back to where our panga was picking us up, this Galapagos Hawk was there to see us off…..such a good host!

Light Streaming

When we got back to the Beagle, the sky decided to put on a bit of a show for us, to end the day.  The way the sun is sending down streams of light, it sort of reminds me of God….or a holy card that I used to get when I was a kid.

Rain on the Horizon

This is another cool shot – you can see the sun above, and the rain pouring down from the cloud off on the horizon.

Pastel Sunset

With all the clouds and moisture in the air, I thought we’d have a lovely sunset!

Band Across the Sun

Good night from Urbina Bay…..

Enjoy!

 

Racing With Dolphins – Punta Vincente Rocca – Isabela Island –  Galapagos Islands

As we were leaving the Punta Vincente Rocca area, sailing blissfully along, one of the coolest things happened.  I had heard of ships encountering dolphins that seemed to race along with them, sort of playing with the ship.  I didn’t really ever think I’d get to see it, but we did!  It was the most fun 10 minutes!  As I stood there, just snapping away with my camera, I know I had the biggest grin on my face, and found myself chuckling just watching these beautiful creatures.  How many dolphins were there?

Bottlenose Dolphins

Well, there were dozens…..

More Playing

…and dozens…

Racing Along

…and dozens….

Leaping

….and dozens….

Lots of Leaping

…and dozens!  It seemed to never end!  I have no idea how many there really were, but they just seemed to fill up the sea for as far out and as wide as I could see!  All of us on the boat became kids once again, just watching them playing with each other and us!

Enjoy!



 

Fun with Sea Turtles – Punta Vincente Rocca – Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

This snorkeling adventure firmly convinced me that snorkeling is a fabulous thing!  Of course, doing it in the Galapagos is probably one of the most perfect places to snorkel.  Take a look at the fun I had swimming with the sea turtles!

Next to Me

I was just snorkeling along when I felt someone coming up alongside me.  I thought it was one of my snorkeling buddies (there were about 8 of us) and I focused on not drifting over into them.  I turned to see who it was, and was beyond surprised to see that my “buddy” was a huge sea turtle!  He was about 2/3 the length of me and way wider!  I was lucky enough to be able to get the underwater camera pointed in the right direction to capture his photo, all the while saying “Oh, my God” into my mouthpiece!

Swimming Buddy

Clearly I was swimming too slowly, because this guy just sort of glided past me!  He wasn’t afraid of me – in fact, I don’t think he really cared that I was there.  No fear of being bitten either.  I’m not his food choice!

Up for Air

And, here’s my buddy, as he surfaced briefly to capture some air!  It felt kind of odd to be on the same eye level as this guy.

Coming up toward Me

One thing that I found amazing was how these guys just sort of levitated themselves off the sea floor (about 30 feet below me) and floated up toward me.  Then, as they got sort of close to me, they just began to gently swim.  I did get out of their way, because I wasn’t sure if they’d keep coming up right under me and I’d end up on their shell!  Since I’m not supposed to touch them, I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t end up riding them either!

Another Swimmer

It was a regular sea turtle traffic jam below me!  I don’t know how these guys avoided each other , but in their very laid-back way, they did.  Someone reminded me of the turtle in the movie “Nemo” and I would say their personalities seemed to match the turtle character in that movie!

Enjoy!



 

Swimming with Fish – Punta Vincente Rocca - Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

 

Here are a couple of cool shots of fish swimming along under me while snorkeling!

 What fun! (And, no, they are NOT sharks!)

Enjoy!



 

Sea Turtles from the Panga – Punta Vincente Rocca – Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

We were also lucky enough on this panga ride to see some sea turtles swimming right next to the boat!  They were amazing and totally not concerned with us at all!

Morning Swim

So, here’s one of the turtles just out for a morning swim!  He was totally not bothered by us being there – and I love how clear the water is so we can see him so well!

Blowing Bubbles

Is he playing with us or just coming up for air, blowing bubbles at us?

Up for Air

Ok, so he came up for air, but I think he’s mugging for the camera, the little (???) ham!

Clearly Swimming

I can’t believe how well we can see these guys!  If it weren’t for the waviness of his shell, I wouldn’t think he was under water!  Gosh, I really wanted to go swimming with them……but it was just the morning!

Enjoy!



 

Pelicans On Parade – Punta Vincente Rocca – Isabela Island – Galapagos Islands

 

It took a while before we saw any pelicans that I felt I could get a good shot of.  Generally, I was getting a lot of photo ops like this –

 Wheels Up

It does look cool, but I really wanted to get to see one perched somewhere, instead of landing on the water, floating, or taking off!

Pelican Evil Eye

But, on our panga ride, we were lucky enough to get to see one, relatively close up.  However, this guy seemed to have a bit of an attitude!  Check out the look he seems to be giving us!

Knowing Look

Here’s another look that seems to be letting us know he’s in on some secret joke or something…..is our panga heading into troubled waters…..or could there be another pelican overhead waiting to bomb us (ick!)?

Direct Stare

This one may be my favorite – just staring at us, seeming to dare us to do something.  We didn’t do anything, but I’d kind of like to know what he had in mind!

Enjoy!