Last pics of Galapagos/Swissotel

Our cabin

From that cabin to the beautiful room, margarita, and steak dinner at the Swissotel waiting for us upon our return.

The Galapagos part II

More pics.  Completely out of order so have patience.

Seal..they look really different from sealions, which i never knew

Brett managed to find 2 separate pairs of grasshoppers doing it...eagle eye cherry.

Our boat again

Red-footed boobie and her egg

Our last dinner on the boat..the guy on the right was our naturalist guide, Esteban.  He was only 20 but knew so much about the islands and the animals.  He was a dead ringer for my cousin, omar.

Lucky for me, they didn't have a short suit in my size so i got a full body.  Totally necessary...the water was freezing!

Nazca boobie

Frigate and a baby

Blue-footed boobies

Male frigate showing off his stuff

Red-footed boobie

This cactus was very interesting..it was flat and looked like a stage prop

Baby tortoises

Sally lightfoot crab

Eyeballing our guide..he would have to clap his hands and hit a stick on the ground so that they would move.  They were not pleased.

Baby boobie

Marine iguana

Albatross - true to The Rescuers, our guide told us that they have to jump cliffs to be able to fly and they are awful at landing

The Galapagos

Ok, here are some pictures to start.  I'll be putting some more in a little bit. 

Juvenile frigate bird

Male frigate (notice the little red pouch by his neck..it's uninflated, so he's not mating)

Our boat, The Mistral II. (I look pregnant)  It's a boat for 12 but we were lucky enough to only be joined by one other couple.

This is Lonesome George.  He's the last of his species.  He won't mate and they can't figure out why.  Their very last attempt will be cloning to keep his species alive but they're hesistant because it's very expensive and they don't think it's going to work.

This island was entirely composed of hardened lava.

Marine iguanas..on our approach to the island in the dinghy, you could see a bunch of them swimming.

Mockingbirds...like to eat boobies' and albatrosses' eggs

Sealions

Brown pelican..they liked to perch themselves on our boat

Seals

Nazca (or masked) boobies

Red-footed boobie

Penguins and a sally lightfoot crab

Although it wasn't mating season, we were lucky enough to see the frigate bird trying to mate.  They inflate their red pouch, spread their wings, and make an incredible sound to attract the females flying above.

 

Exploring a lava tube

Land lizard

Giant tortoises

Blue-footed boobie

Swallow-tailed gulls

Snoozin

Salar de Uyuni: Day 1

Geyers

Laguna Verde

Llama

Laguna Colorada..the little guys are flamingos

Dead llama

Freezing dinner

Freezing chess