Friday 21 February 2014

Chinese Hat and Rabida

The boat had travelled quite a distance during the night and we could clearly see the Island known as the Chinese Hat which was to be our first destination of the day. Each day we would have four different places to visit - usually two islands or places on an island and two different marine areas for us to snorkel.









We landed close to where the penguins were and we observed them quite closely for some time. They were not bothered by us at all.








This is the skeleton of a sea lion left close to the shore line.
 This is the Galapagos Hawk which was perched on a post. As we were watching him we noticed 3 other hawks in close proximity. The guide then pointed out the reason for their interest.
 Just to the left of the hawk a female  sea lion had just given birth and the hawks were waiting for her to move so they could eat the placenta. The hawks are scavengers rather than predators although they will kill and eat young marine iguanas.

This hawk had already flown down to the sea lion but had obviously been chased away. You can see the blood on its right claw. This was probably the most exciting wild life scene I had ever witnessed. We were so close to the hawk that all I needed was David Attenborough to give me a running commentary.




This lizard seemed to want to snuggle in with the two young sea lions having a snooze.










 This was Daniel, one of our three guides.







This was a Lava Heron enjoying a tasty meal of crab.








 After snorkelling we returned to the boat which sailed round to the Island of Rabida. The frigate birds often flew above the boat.

 This Island was quite different with its very red soil in stead of the black lava rock of the other islands.









Here are a couple of Galapagos doves and below a baby sea lion enjoying the added comfort of someone's bag as a pillow.



  One unusual tree here was this cactus with soft spikes which you could stroke.









 Back on board we finished off the day with some very funny, tuneless karaoke.





15 comments:

  1. I would love to see and do every single thing you show in this post. Except the karaoke ;>)

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  2. What great photos, and how exciting it must have been to be so close to the animals and birds.

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  3. Gorgeous... Looks like your trip is AWESOME. I'd love to see the sea lions, the penguins, and the birds... That Frigate Bird has the neatest shape...

    Interesting 'soft' cactus...

    Sounds like FUN.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  4. Wonderful! Glad you like the wordy post!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  5. I was reading your blog right when you commented on mine. We are on the same wavelength. Anyways, wonderful wildlife photos! I sat for hours on a beach in Australia hoping to see some wild penguins but never had any luck. That skeleton is very fascinating, and that sea lion with the person's bag is simply adorable. I never realized that scavengers went after placenta, but I suppose it makes sense.

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  6. Wow, what an amazing trip! I would love to visit this place too. The wildlife sightings are awesome. I love the penquins, hawks and the sea lions. Wonderful photos. Have a happy weekend..BTW, this would be a great pos to link up with my Saturday's Critter party, if you would like to?

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  7. The name "Chinese hat" for the first island suits very well. What an amazing trip you are making, love to read your posts and watch the photos.

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  8. What an amazing adventure. That looks amazing.

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  9. That was a fascinating post! The baby sea lion was so cute.

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  10. Very fascinating place and interesting species. It is great to see this birds in the wild.

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  11. What an amazing place, but it's definitely eat or be eaten!

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  12. My official comment is above...Just stopping by to say thank you for linking up to my Saturday's Critter party. Have a happy weekend!

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  13. What an incredible experience to be so close to all this wildlife. The Galapagos is on our bucket list and I can't get over all those adorable sea lions. How interesting to have a cactus with soft spikes.

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  14. Just read all your post, what a wonderful trip !

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  15. Getting up close and personal to wildlife is exhilarating. Lucky you.

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