Ecuador

NOTE: "HOME" takes you to our initial home page; "UP" will return you to the Peru/Ecuador site for more exploring.

We began our experience in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. It sits at 9,300 feet in the heart of the Andes just a few kilometers south of the Equatorial Line. Quito offers colonial churches, art galleries and museums and charming little streets, all surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery.

From Quito, we flew to The Galapagos Islands, lying some 600 miles to the west in the Pacific. Upon arrival, we transferred to an 83-foot/20 passenger motor yacht designed exclusively for cruising the Galapagos archipelago and our expedition began. There were only 13 passengers with a crew of 7 plus 2 guides/naturalists on the yacht the week we were there. Each day was spent exploring a different island during two shore excursions – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. These were either "dry" landings (i.e., pulling up to a dock) or "wet" landings where, using a panga as transport, we landed on a beach and jumped out to wade in to the shore. In all we traveled between 500-600 miles on the yacht crossing the Equator six times. In spite of being on the Equator at sea level the temperatures were only in the 80's! Cool ocean currents keep the islands temperate.

The Galapagos was an incredible adventure. The wildlife has absolutely no fear of man so it was possible to be in very close proximity to the creatures. We swam with sea lions and penguins. On shore, we walked among nesting red-footed boobies. We saw so many, many creatures – blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, masked boobies, flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, land iguanas, sea turtles, tortoises – all amazing and many found only in The Galapagos. It's now much easier to understand how Darwin was able to theorize evolution from such a unique setting. We spent seven days and nights exploring the islands and enjoying not only the wildlife but beautiful settings too!

After our week in The Galapagos, we returned to Quito before returning to the U.S. We enjoyed every moment in Ecuador and are looking forward to more exploration of its mainland on a future visit.

Click on the image to display a larger photo. Once displayed, click on the BACK button (first button on the left of your browser) to return to this page.

QUITO

	VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL TERRACE IN QUITO, ECUADOR'S CAPITAL
	QUITO'S MAIN SQUARE WITH THE CATHEDRAL IN THE BACKGROUND
	16TH CENTURY COLONIAL BUILDING NOW HOME TO THE MAYOR OF QUITO & OFFICES FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
	INSIDE THE CATHEDRAL OF QUITO
	VIEW OF THE CENTRAL CITY OF QUITO FROM PANACEA HILL (AT ~10,000 FEET)

T H E G A L A P A G O S
SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND

	SAN CRISTOBAL IS WHERE WE BEGAN AND ENDED OUR CRUISE HERE'S OUT YACHT FOR 7 NIGHTS NOTE: THE PANGA ON THE REAR USED TO GET TO SHORE ON THE VARIOUS ISLANDS
	OUR "WELCOMING COMMITTEE" TO THE GALAPAGOS! A FRIGATE BIRD RIDES THE THERMALS OVER THE BOAT AS WE SET OUT TO SEA

LOBOS ISLAND

	SEA LION
	BLUE FOOTED BOOBY OUR INITIAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE FIRST OF THREE GALAPAGOS BOOBIES
	A NESTING FRIGATE BIRD NOTE THE TINY WHITE CHICK UNDER HER WING

GENOVESA ISLAND

	A SWALLOW TAIL GULL FEEDS HER CHICK
	RED FOOTED BOOBY IN A RARE WHITE PHASE OF ITS COLORATION THIS IS THE 2ND OF THE THREE GALAPAGOS BOOBIES
	RED FOOTED BOOBY IN ITS TYPICAL BROWN COLORATION
	A PAIR OF SCISSOR-TAIL GULLS WITH A NEWLY-HATCHED CHICK UNDER MAMA'S WING (ADDS A NEW PERSPECTIVE TO THE PHRASE, "LET ME TAKE YOU UNDER MY WING!")
	A MALE FRIGATE WITH POUCH INFLATED TO ATTRACT A MATE
	GALAPAGOS LAVA CACTUS
	MASKED BOOBY SITTING ON TWO EGGS THE 3RD OF THE GALAPAGOS BOOBIES

SANTA CRUZ ISLAND

	A PELICAN FISHING
	A FEMALE GALAPAGOS LAND IGUANA ("AIN'T SHE SWEET?!)
	THE MALE GALAPAGOS LAND IGUANA APPROX. 4 FEET LONG!
	WHITE TIPPED REEF SHARK APPROX. 7-8 FEET LONG
	LINDY & A GALAPAGOS TORTOISE AT THE DARWIN RESEARCH STATION THE TORTOISE IS 80-100 YEARS OLD & 400-500 LBS.
	A RARE TREAT - ONE OF THREE WILD TORTOISES WE SAW ON SANTA CRUZ THIS TORTOISE IS MORE THAN 100 YEARS OLD, IS 5 FT. LONG AND WEIGHS MORE THAN 500 LBS.

RABIDO ISLAND

	RED BEACH AND OUR WELCOMING BEACH MASTER! (HE'S HUGE -- 500-600 POUNDS!)
	A NESTING PELICAN

ISABEL ISLAND

	THE GALAPAGOS' LARGEST ISLAND DARWIN LAKE, A CRATER LAKE, IN THE FOREGROUND WITH THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN THE BACKGROUND
	SALLY LIGHTFOOT CRAB
	GALAPAGOS PENGUIN WITH "SALLY" NEARBY

FERNANDINA ISLAND

	A FLIGHTLESS CORMORANT SPREADS ITS WINGS TO DRY AFTER FISHING IN THE OCEAN
	GREAT BLUE HERON
	A COLONY OF SEA IGUANAS WHICH LIVE ON LAND BUT FEED ON PLANTS IN THE SEA (THE BABIES ARE IN THE CENTER FRONT AND "SALLY" IS IN THE UPPER LEFT)
	A VERY RARE & BEAUTIFUL SIGHT -- THE GALAPAGOS HAWK

SANTIAGO ISLAND

	EN ROUTE TO SANTIAGO, WE'RE JOINED BY A POD OF COMMON DOLPHIN (PORPOISE) HERDING FISH
	A TIDAL POOL (LIKE "BLUE GROTTO") WITH A SEA LION SWIMMING OFF TO THE LEFT

BARTOLOME ISLAND

A DESOLATE "MOONSCAPE" ON THE
ISLAND FORMED ~700 YEARS AGO BY
VOLCANIC ERUPTION

ESPANOLA ISLAND

	MERMAIDS ON A BEAUTIFUL WHITE SAND BEACH
	SEA IGUANA IN SPAWNING COLORS
	GALAPAGOS LAVA LIZARD (APPROX. 4 FEET LONG)
	PAIR OF WAVED ALBATROSS GOING THROUGH THEIR MATING RITUAL (THE MALE ALBATROSS HAS A WINGSPAN OF ~8 FT)
	THE SEASCAPE AT ESPANOLA WITH AN ALBATROSS ABOVE AND A COLONY OF SEA IGUANAS IN THE FOREGROUND

[ T O P ]