Day seven of our Galapagos trip found us at Isla Santa Fe after another night crossing. By this point me and Clair were pretty immune to the motion of the ocean, although generally when the engines started at 3amish we would wake up but then nod off again fairly sharpish.
After yet another fabulous breakfast, we quickly all headed off in the dinghies for a slightly soggy landing at Bahai Barrington. Here we were greeted by a dozy colony of sealions on the beach.
As we followed Lobo up the cliff-edge trail we walked through these magnificent giant opuntia cactii, another unique species to this island.
The opuntia were genuinely massive, towering overhead with their waterlogged paddles.
Also present were the Santa Fe land iguanas. These guys were some of the biggest that we encountered.
Clair snapped this piccy of the inside of a dead cactus. You can really see how the structure allows it to hold all the water inside.
Just crashed right out, soaking up the sun.
This is a great pic showing the gnarly trunk of this huge specimen.
Tucked in the middle here is a species of Darwin finch. It was really tricky to catch them on camera as they were so spritely.
This one is a cactus finch with handsome black plumage.
The landscape was extremely dry, yet still had a lot of growth.
Another little birdy trying to avoid being photographed, this is a large billed fly catcher.
This was a pair of Galapagos mockingbirds, one of which was a juvenile, making lots of noise in this tree.
More cactus finches.
A Galapagos dove with its pretty blue eye on Clairy.
The colours of the vegetation were quite intense against the black volcanic rocks. This reminded Clairy of a Gustav Klimt painting.
It was absolutely roasting by now and we were all glad to have drenched ourselves in factor 30. The reddish trunks of these beasts can measure up to 2.5m in circumference and the crown can be up to 10m off the ground. They're important for the Sante Fe land iguanas who fiercely contest territories under trees that produce a lot of fruit. It is suspected that the cactus trees may have been forced to grow tall in order to stop the lizards eating the succulent pads.
The walk up to the lookout point on the high escarpment was very steep, and I was dripping with sweat by the time we got a break to take a piccy. The Floreana is the boat in the middle.
Looking back, the landscape looks like something from a western (by the sea).
Clair couldn't get enough of this sea purslane plants on the sharp rocks.
Once we got back ot the boat we quickly grabbed the snorkelling gear and the underwater camera and jumped back in the dinghy. The plan was to snorkel a loop all the way round the bay. Initially the water was pretty murky and we were a bit disappointed thinking this wasn't going to compare to our other fabulous experiences. We had also been warned that there had been sightings of a bull shark in recent weeks. We were advised to swim in a group and to shout out so that everyone could get out of the water if we saw one. Unfortunately none of us knew what one looked like. Oh well.
Soon enough though I realised if I swum down a bit then we could still get some pretty good pictures and footage.
I really enjoyed trying to swim right into the shoal of fish, and in some cases they didn't seem to mind, like these yellow tails.
Oh hi! Check out how strangely fluffy my hair looks in the super salty water.
A nice little patch of coral.
We think these next two are young puffer fish. They're quite odd because they completely change colour throughout the different phases of their lives.
And here's a vid I've put together of my snorkelling antics. Keep your eye out for the top quality smokescreen emitted from the parrotfish I was chasing in the last clip (I didn't mean to scare him that much!).
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
The pic of the dead cactus is pretty cool. So is the picture of the sealion skeleton.
(Should I be worried I'm only taking an interest in dead things?!)
Impressed by your little shower room - Its about the same size as ours! xx
[url=http://louboutinmart.co.uk]christian louboutin shoes[/url] Though the current barely flows by midsummer, paddling here during spring high water may necessitate a one-way trip. [url=http://dkgoose.com]Canada Goose tilbud[/url] Vhuwgrika http://csrhelix.com
lvruxx 209822 [url=http://www.chilliwackbombersoutlet.com]picture of canadian geese[/url] 914631 [url=http://www.beatsbydreaonsales.com]beats by dre sales[/url]
[url=http://louboutinmart.co.uk]christian louboutin shoes[/url] We were bouncing with anticipation. [url=http://dkgoose.com]Canada Goose jakke[/url] Xmvqdwhrr http://csrhelix.com
bgnwvs 258603 [url=http://www.chilliwackbombersoutlet.com]canada goose authorized dealers[/url] 639018 [url=http://www.officialcanadagooseparkas.ca]canada goose authentic[/url]
Post a Comment