After our amazing cruise ended we still had plenty of time to see more of the islands. Many of these tours included snorkeling at some point, and here we are about to jump in to the cold waters. Many people used wet suits because the water was so cold, but not us!
The rock formation above is known as Kicker Rock, and we swam through the channel where there were lots of sharks, fish, and two spotted eagle rays that came within a meter of our faces.Another fun creature that the Galapagos are known for is the giant tortoise.
Laura and I visited a ranch where many of the tortoises come to feed.
In order to fully understand the size of the giant tortoise, I decided to climb into a shell at the ranch. They are pretty darn big!
Another tour took us to the island of Floreana, where we hiked, and saw many of the typical animals on the islands.
Sometimes it felt as if the seals were posing for pictures.
It was a rare sighting for us, but on one boat, we saw some penguins hanging out along the rocks.
Below, is a Nazca Booby.
We took a hike out to the beach, but the path was blocked.
These iguanas had no intention of moving for us.
A blue footed booby sitting along the shore. We had been waiting very patiently to see these animals on the Galapagos, and we can now claim to have witnessed how truly blue their feet are.
You can find baby sea lions laying around just about anywhere, and they are not bothered by a person approaching closely. But Don't Touch! That's not allowed on Galapagos.
Below is a shot of the frigate birds with inflated chests. These are two males with the big red pouches looking to attract females.
And here's Laura, pretending to be a frigate bird.
Here's a great shot of the blue footed booby. Look at how blue those feet are!
This shot shows a female who is most likely sitting on an egg, and a male who is going through the courting ritual where he will "dance" for her attention.
The area we visited to see these fun creatures was full of eager participants dancing away. Here, is another one of the actions that they engage in to court a partner.
The beaches on Galapagos are all fantastic places to lay around and witness life.
There was a tortoise nursery on the main island where baby tortoises are raised before being released into the wild. There are numbers painted on their backs to keep track of what island they come from and what type of tortoise they are.
Here's a photo of the Galapagos' most famous tortoise, named Lonesome George. He is lonesome because he is the last of his species alive on the islands, however they are attempting to mate him with some closely related species. George is roughly eighty years old, and it was explained to us that he wandered the islands looking for a mate for over twenty years. At some point, he began to lose interest in the hunt, and there is concern that he may not be able to produce the proper hormones to reproduce. In other words, he didn't use it, so he may have lost it.
