Guayaquil

Saturday, 1 September 2018

After returning to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in the morning, we had an opportunity to take an afternoon city tour.

We may not be in the Galapagos anymore, but we're still in iguana territory. Iguanas were everywhere. On the ground in city parks, ...

... and in the trees everywhere. If you looked up into a tree, you could find at least one iguana, usually several.

I promise, the last iguana photo of the trip!

The cathedral.

Cerro del Carmen, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Guayaquil, near the modern riverwalk (Malecon 2000).

The large ferris wheel on the riverwalk.

The old neighborhood of Cerro Santa Ana has a lot of steps. They're even numbered (as in Palitana in Gujarat).

The old section at the base of Cerro Santa Ana.

The modern section of Santa Ana. These new high-rises are blocking the view of the older buildings on the hill.

Genovesa - Beach Walk

Friday, 31 August 2018
Galapagos Day 7

We ended our time in the Galapagos with a spectacular walk along the beach and mangroves in Darwin Bay. The birds were astounding, and the sea lions were having great fun. Please excuse the length of this post, there was just too much going on.

The shrubs along the beach were overflowing with nesting birds, mostly boobies and frigatebirds.

It wasn't all large birds. Here's a cactus ground finch.

And a yellow warbler.

This trail is known for being underwater at high tide. The morning group had a dry walk.

Because the trail was underwater, the sea lions swam among us. This young sea lion was playing with a twig and swimming into the mangroves.

Then a second sea lion pup came by and the two had a great time chasing each other, leaping into the air, and just generally enjoying playtime.

The adults preferred to sleep on the beach.

We saw two species of gulls.

Lava gulls are named for their uniformly dark color that matches the dark basaltic rocks.

Swallow-tailed gulls are common throughout the Galapagos.

A juvenile swallow-tailed gull.

And soon there will be even more young swallow-tailed gulls.

Tropicbirds with their absurdly long tails were flying overhead.

Two red-billed tropicbirds.

Another view of a red-billed tropicbird.

Tragedy. A juvenile tropicbird has somehow ended up in the water. At this stage, the bird lacks waterproof feathers and will most likely not be able to survive.

Frigatebirds and boobies nested together. Nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies, and frigatebirds nest on the ground, while red-footed boobies nest in trees, especially the mangroves at this site.

Adult frigatebird.

Juvenile frigatebirds.

Adult Nazca booby.

It looked as if the mangroves were filled with white fluff of some sort every few feet, but occasionally a black beak would make it clear that the fluffs were juvenile red-footed boobies.

As they get older, they replace the white downy feathers with darker adult feathers.

Getting ready to fly. A red-footed booby exercises its wings.

Of course, there are plenty of adult red-footed boobies nearby.

All too soon the sun was setting and we had to return to the ship and conclude a great trip.

I couldn't resist adding one last sunrise view of Daphne Major from the ship, docked at Baltra. This is the classic view, with the trail from the landing site to the crater rim visible.

Genovesa - On the Beach

Friday, 31 August 2018
Galapagos Day 7

In the late morning we had our last snorkeling session on the beach.

Snorkeling from the beach means that the water is not as clear as in "deep water" snorkeling. I think this is a steamer hogfish.

I saw a number of these "glowing edges" fish.

Another blue-and-pink fish.

A diamond ray.

Another diamond ray buries itself in the sandy bottom as a fish swims by.

In a preview of this afternoon's beach walk:

Old whalebones bleaching above the high tide zone.

Frigatebird

Lava gull

Genovesa - Prince Philip's Steps

Friday, 31 August 2018
Galapagos Day 7

Genovesa is one of three islands in the Galapagos north of the Equator. We anchored in Darwin Bay (although Darwin never visited Genovesa), which is a submerged caldera. The middle of the caldera is deep with steep sides, so we had to anchor quite close to the shoreline where the water is shallower.

Looking back at the entrance to Darwin Bay on Genovesa.

When it comes to birds, the best was saved for last. Today we had two spectacular bird walks from Darwin Bay.

The first one was a trip up the Prince Philip Steps to the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The steps are mostly natural stones filling a crevice in the cliff. They have been improved with a handrail and some concrete work.

While we waited for other Zodiacs to disembark, we were able to see a few Galapagos fur seals sleeping on the rocks.  Largely nocturnal, they sleep most of the day.

Once the top of the steps are reached, the top is flat, but crossed with deep ravines and collapsed lava tubes, which make great nesting sites for storm petrels and other seabirds.

The top of the bluff on the ocean side of the island, with hundreds of sea birds (mostly storm petrels) in the air.

Looking at the short-eared owl and other birds.

We saw a short-eared owl from a distance. They are well-camouflaged and difficult to see against the rocky background. 

Between the steps and the ocean bluff is a palo santo shrub forest filled with nesting frigatebirds (above) and boobies.

A juvenile frigatebird well on its way to adult plumage.

A younger juvenile frigate bird. The birds have no predators and are not at all disturbed by humans walking through their nesting grounds.

Nazca booby.

Blue-footed booby.

Red-footed boobies sit and nest in trees, even though they have webbed feet. I loved the contrast between their blue beaks and red feet.

Another red-footed booby.