Another Galapagos Day....
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| Cactus in Bloom |
I found myself agreeing with Mike, one of the photo instructors,
the night before about getting up for sunrise cos he claimed that “the light is
amazing” at that time. I do agree
with that statement. Well, I
forgot about the craziness of the itinerary for the photo trips from the other
side of the coin. I guess I just
got to embrace the moment with this one before the moment is lost. I did come here to work on my portfolio
& to practice all my newfound photo skills. Besides, this place is amazing anyways.
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| Blue-footed Bobbie |
The morning photo shoot begun at 6:00 AM and lasted for over
three hours on North Seymour. Well, like it was the last time I was on this
island, I wasn’t too crazy for it cos it’s full of birds. Yes, I’m afraid of
birds & of course the Alfred Hitchcock film had something to do with it.
Stop your laughing hear cos it’s true.
Surprising that I was calm again during the hike. Oh, I got to see the famous blue-footed
boobies, frigate birds & Darwin’s finches. Also, not to forget seeing about three dead birds on the
trail as well. Yuck! I found out
that the white color frigate birds are the juveniles, the females have white
& the males are black with a red stomach. Also, cactus were in bloom!
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| Land Iguana |
I also learned some new features about my camera that will
improve my photography. Issues
that once drove me crazy trying to learn for months now seam clear once I had
it explained to me in a simple way & was shown how to use the features. Everyone goes threw some type of
learning curve & things just started to make click.
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| Sea Lion Pup & Mum |
The highlight of my morning was watching the sea lions pup
as you walk onto shore from the zodiac.
I think those who know how excited when I see sea lions or whales would
probably be laughing cos they know how I act. I get very excited watching them. They are amazing. Also, I enjoyed watching the land
iguanas, marine iguanas & lizards fighting with one another too. I keep on saying, “strike a pose there’s
nothing to it” to the iguanas to work with me on the shot. Madonna lyrics came
in handy with a photo shoot. Sea
lions are just giving birth right now & to see a pup that’s only a few days
old is something special. I can’t
explain how beautiful it is to watch one with its mother too. Every time you
think you want to turn off your camera or put it away, something amazing comes
along that’s the beauty of the Galapagos Islands. Your watching it unfold & some times I will admit just
being in the moment watching the action is just as good as threw the lens.
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| Lava Lizards Fighting |
The afternoon was spent sailing west towards Rabida, which
was formerly known as Jervis. It’s
an unusual island in many respects & focus today of a campaign for the
eradication of the destructive, introduced black rats. In 1975 the Galapagos National Park
Service successfully eradicated introduced goats from the island, the next step
would be to restore the island to its original balanced ecosystem. Rabida is unique cos the beaches have
sand that was made from lava with a high iron oxide content has created a red
sand beach. It’s very pretty to see
the variation of colors in the sand.
I quite enjoyed a snorkel along the coast of Rabida where I
got to see half a dozen of white tip gray sharks. Also, there was some beautiful big black starfish, parrot
fish & numerous other schools of fishes. So nice to be snorkeling in warm crystal clear water again,
however I had a very quick turn around time until I went out for a wee hike on
the island. Again, I saw sea lions
sunbathing themselves on the red sand beach & playing in the ocean. They looked like they were enjoying
themselves. A lovely hike up a cliff to glance over at the Endeavour while enjoying the beauty. Each island has a different vibe to it. Another successful day in the
Galapagos.
