Log/Pic 31 Puerto Ayora, Galapogos

So this is life in the Galapogos Islands. There are marine iguanas everywhere. At this place in Tortuga Bay. I see them swimming, walking right past me while I sunbath, and in this area I see groups of 25 and more all hanging together.

A view from across the bay.
A zebra eel. A first for me!
From the dock of the bay. This is where the cruise and dive boats hang.
The fishing dock. As the boats come in with their catch, so do the pelicans, frigates, and sea lions.
This is my apartment. Not much, but I love it...except for the roosters...and the barking dogs...and the construction on my building that usually starts around six in the morning.
My dive shop sign.
My dive shop.
SEA CLOUD, the sailboat I came in on. This is the view from behind the wheelhouse where I spent most of my time. I always wanted to be on deck with the wind blowing through my hair. I didn't sleep in my cabin until the 3rd night. The captain even allowed me a couple of shifts steering the boat!
This is me and Gustavo on our dive boat DIOS ME GUIE. Gordon Rocks, the site of all the hammerheads, is in the background.

BLOG YA SOON with more photos of the GALAPOGOS! LOVE LARRY

Log/Pic 30 Santa Cruz, Galapogos

So this is what I'm seeing underwater...

...manta rays,
lots
of
hammerheads,
eagle rays,
turtles,
and
white-
tip
sharks!

Log/Pic 29 Galopogos

So here are some underwater photos from snorkels and dives! From this spot is where the sea lion bit me in the arm. The beach just opposite this one we could not snorkel because the white tip sharks were everywhere right off shore in like six inches of water.
Cool crabs!
Playful sea lions
Even saw a couple of penquins!
The marine iquanas eating the algae from the rocks
Always seeing sharks.
Snorkeling with sea lions.
Saw many turtles, but this was red!
A baby sea lion nursing on the red sand beach as the bull males kept watch from just off shore.
Finally saw hammerhead sharks. We saw six or seven this dive. I got a job on a dive boat and got a little residential apartment. I probably wont blog for awhile because there will be nothing new...except stuff like this!

Log/pic 28 Ecuador

So I arrived in Ecuador and spent eight days in Quito. I stayed four days in New Town and four in Old Town at 3 different hostels. Then I took a flight to Guaquil and onto the Galopogos islands!

The boat in the background of this first photo is named Sea Cloud (note the diving bird behind my left shoulder). Its a 65 foot sailboat that I was supposed to spend eight days on. It broke down after four! We were on and off of it and spent some time on another boat called The Espanola. Ironically the island of Espanola, known for the albotrose, is the one we missed because of the broken boat. But I did visit Genovesa, Isle De Plaza, Santigo, North Seymore, Bartolome, Baltra and the main island of Santa Cruz.

Boobies! Boobies! Boobies! We saw hundreds, maybe thousands of boobies! This is a Red Footed Boobie.
A Blue footed Boobie
A Masked Boobie
We also saw thousands of lava lizards and land or Galopogos iquanas like the one in this photo.
Frigate birds were everywhere. This male is displaying his true colors. We even saw them flying with their pouch inflated.
Sea lions were almost as abundant. Whether we were on a black sand beach, white sand beach or red sand beach, there they were. We also saw them underwater on almost every snorkel and dive we did.
This is a red billed tropical bird. Its long whispering tail allows it to escape from predators. It restores them like lizards do!
These are the famous marine iquanas. We watched as they ate the algae from the rocks on the waters edge, swam across the water, and sunbathed in groups with dozens of others.
This is one of the famous Galopogos tortoses that live to be like a million years old! Well at least more than a hundred and fifty.

So now I'm in Porta Ayora, Santa Cruz. I like it a lot so I think I'm going to try and stay awhile. Blog ya soon!