The Galapagos - 1/2018

an outdoor market in Quito, Equador

view of Quito from the Basilica tower

Orchid Garden at Quito Airport, Ecuador

we only saw one flamingo - their color comes from eating carotenoids

Marine Iguana

blue footed booby

Marine Iguana

baby fur seal

Our Ship - the Santa Cruz II - 90 guest capacity

Rabida Island - high concentrations of iron in the lava produce the distinctive red color

Bill and Mary Ann Flinn

Pinnacle Rock - a spearhead obelisk on Bartholome Island - one of the most famous landmarks in the Galapagos - a black eroded lava formation created when the magma expelled from the volcano reached the sea

my brother-in-law, Bill Flinn

Melanie in Quito

Quito, Equador

Land Iguana welcome us to the Quito Airport

Black-winged Stilt

cutting all the string and netting from this neck and flippers

fur seals basking

sleeping like only a baby can

Melanie with our ship in the background

pelican on Rabida Island

Galapagos Penguins and red rock crabs

another view of a volcanic island (which all of the Galapagos Islands are)

wooden walk on Bartholome Island

My sister, Mary Anne Flinn, awaiting her call to a panga

Basillica of the National Vow in Quito, Equador - technically it is "unfinished" - local legend says when it is finished, the end of the world will come

Mary Ann & Melanie in Quito, Equador

dog checking luggage at Quito Airport

Sally Lightfoot crab

our ship - Santa Cruz II

saving a green sea turtle from all the plastic wrapped around his neck and arms

release!

yellow warbler

our ship - the Santa Cruz II

lava lizard with a new tail because part of it had broken off

carpenter bee on cactus flower

think I'll go swimming....

painted locust

Ed and Bill catching their breath

Prince Phillip's Steps on Genovesa Island

Melanie was the only one to walk this catwalk and climb the very steep ladder at the end in the tower in the Basillica

Quito, Equador

Oystercatcher

Marine Iguana

blue footed booby

Marine Iguana - found no where else in the world other than the Galapagos

love this pose!

Fatima explaining how the cactus adds alternating levels

cactus is so important on these islands

lava lizard

Galapagos Penguin and red rock crabs

wooden walk and stairway on Bartholomew Island - very long with many steps to the top

Nazca Booby