Galapagos!!

Wow! What an amazing place. We had such a great time in the Galapagos. We saw so many animals and loved that you can walk or snorkel up to them and they don't even flinch. The mamas didn't mind us nearby while nursing or feeding their young. The sea lions and sea turtles were playful with us in the water. Even the sharks seemed less intimidating.

We were there for nine days (hence all the photos), and spent a few days on Santa Cruz island, Isabela island, and then took a three-day cruise around the northern islands. Given that we don't plan or research ahead of time, we were a bit surprised by how arid and cool it was on the equator. The water was also much colder than expected due to the Humboldt current coming up from the antarctic. Which explains why there are flamingos and penguins here.

Due to it's isolation and unique climate there are numerous species that are endemic to the Galapagos (found only here) like giant Galapagos tortoises, marine iguanas, Galapagos fur sea lions, and many more. Even from island to island some of the species have adapted differently. There's an owl that stalks it's prey like a cat on the ground. One of my favorites was the blue footed boobies who dives into the water from 70 meters above like a kamikaze to catch fish. Their bright blue feet were wild.

Here is a little video we recorded of a whitetip reef shark while snorkeling. We'll upload a couple more videos soon.


Whitetip Reef Shark - Galapagos Islands