Galapagos Birds

One of the amazing things on the Galapagos Islands is the birds.
They have the normal territorial disputes over nesting sites but no fear of humans. I once saw a British tourist sitting with a half dozen Mockingbirds perched on his arms. The Mockingbirds cleverly determined our drinking water was in the plastic bottles we carried on shore. Whenever they saw a clear plastic bottle, they automatically expected a free drink because fresh water is RARE on the islands.

(Something NOT approved by the guides)

The Frigate Bird was probably the most colorful and vocal of the birds we saw while on land. The males would go to enormous lengths to attract a female. They would blow up air sacs in their throats to proudly display their bright red colors. These guys were real hams… We didn’t see a lot of Flamingos but I got a good shot of this one wading in brackish water and feeding on marine life. These blue footed birds are famous and you won’t find these at many places in the world.
Our trip was nearing the end now and we would spend a few days in a little town before flying back to Quito and returning home. We had been sailing for about a week and staying on the small boat as we moved between the islands.

A small boat with a crew and passenger list of 15 is about the max here.
Any boat with a draft of more than 10 meters is not acceptable in these waters.

At night I would sit on the deck and watch the stars. The Milky Way looked bright as an Interstate Highway and the Constellation Orion was actually upside down when viewed from here. It was fantastically beautiful at night….
This was a place where I never saw the vapor trail of a jet in the night sky.

We stayed in this area for a few days and snorkled with sting rays and seals several times before heading back to Quito and our return flight to the United States.
I feel very fortunate to have traveled here and viewed this part of the world.

It would be nice to return some day and see this again.