Galapagos Islands Visit

Galapagos Adventure, June 2001

Saturday, June 9, Santiago & Bartholemew
AM: Santiago, James Bay
PM: Bartholemew, climbing a volcano crater (380 feet)

You must hand it to Richard, he knew how to go out in style. On our last full day, he took us to two fantastic locations.

Santiago, James Bay

Landing in James Bay, we were greeted by a Heron and a view of a natural bridge.

We hiked up off the beach and saw a hawk on the rocks overlooking the beach. We were close.

But not as close as we could get!

This is a Yellow Crowned Night Heron on the lava rocks. We were so close it was spooky!

I believe this is a young Heron.

Lava flows up in towers that solidify into fascinating shapes.

Bartholemew

Bartholemew is another volcanic island. It is so inhospitable, practically nothing will grow on it. Look closely and you will see 4 volcanic cones.

We climbed to the peak and watched the sun going down. The speck just off the shore is the Parranda.

Here is the happy crew that made it to the peak. We're only 16 miles from the Equator as the sign points out.

On Sunday, we took a long panga ride to Black Turtle Cove off the coast of Santa Cruz. We saw turtles, sharks and rays, but unfortunately, they were not easy to photograph. So you will have to take my word for it! Later in the day, we flew back to Quito, then arose at 3:30 on Monday AM to head back to the US.

That was the highlights of our trip. I only included about 5% of the pictures we took and left out many of the stories. A few final thoughts:

For all those of us who expect summer days to be long and winter days to be short (the day is about 15 hours as I write this on June 28), being on the equator is bizarre - the day only varies by 18 minutes during the year.

While we were there, I was never able to get oriented by the sun - it was too close to the zenith most of the day.

If you like nature, it's a great place to visit. If you like creature comforts, consider taking the same tour company we did - they do take care of you well!

Return to home (home page, that is!)

	Landing in James Bay, we were greeted by a Heron and a view of a natural bridge.
	We hiked up off the beach and saw a hawk on the rocks overlooking the beach. We were close.
	But not as close as we could get!
	This is a Yellow Crowned Night Heron on the lava rocks. We were so close it was spooky!
	I believe this is a young Heron.
	Lava flows up in towers that solidify into fascinating shapes.

	Bartholemew is another volcanic island. It is so inhospitable, practically nothing will grow on it. Look closely and you will see 4 volcanic cones.
	We climbed to the peak and watched the sun going down. The speck just off the shore is the Parranda.
	Here is the happy crew that made it to the peak. We're only 16 miles from the Equator as the sign points out.
On Sunday, we took a long panga ride to Black Turtle Cove off the coast of Santa Cruz. We saw turtles, sharks and rays, but unfortunately, they were not easy to photograph. So you will have to take my word for it! Later in the day, we flew back to Quito, then arose at 3:30 on Monday AM to head back to the US. That was the highlights of our trip. I only included about 5% of the pictures we took and left out many of the stories. A few final thoughts: For all those of us who expect summer days to be long and winter days to be short (the day is about 15 hours as I write this on June 28), being on the equator is bizarre - the day only varies by 18 minutes during the year. While we were there, I was never able to get oriented by the sun - it was too close to the zenith most of the day. If you like nature, it's a great place to visit. If you like creature comforts, consider taking the same tour company we did - they do take care of you well!