Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Exploring the Galapagos Islands

September 24th, 2009: Today was the last day of an 8 day organized boat tour of the Galapagos Islands and first day of my 18 day independent exploration of the 3 inhabited islands. Already taking perhaps over 5000 photos, I was told that I took more photos than Japanese people…by a Japanese woman. Yes, on this trip I don’t think that I had to worry too much about raccoon eyes from my sunglasses but I did have to be concerned about camera eye…looking like spot. The itinerary on the boat was so full and after curling my 10 pound camera all day, by 9pm, I had no energy left to write, change clothes or to even shower as I sprawled out on my tiny bed, dead to what was going on around me.

Most of the wildlife that roamed between and on the islands would just go about their business as you would walk or swim by them treating you as if you were just another animal not in the food chain. I needed to be alert when walking on the trails since if I was not aware of where I was stepping, I could have easily squashed a pile of tanning iguanas or tripped over a female sea lion that would engulf the path with her fatty body exposing her impressive leaking sandy nipples. Crying baby pups would fill the air as they scooted across the beach looking for their mothers that all dressed the same making it difficult for them to be located. At times the momma sea lions would lash out at the little rogue titty suckers that were true coinsures of milk trying to sampling the makings of the other parents.

I am not the Sea Lion Whisper but I could swear that some of the unhappy mothers seemed to be wishing that their children had some nice white furry coats so that someone would club them and take away their responsibilities as their children would eventually become some designer jacket, wallet, or a domesticated pet’s chew toy.

There is too much in my journal to try to figure out what I should and shouldn’t expand on. The few photos that I posted pretty much tells the story of the trip to the islands.

Most backpacker will skip this trip due to the expense. I try to explain to them that if they are traveling alone, to think of the overall price being half off. I say this because if they decide to go later in life and are married, the trip would cost twice as much. If I missed this trip, I would have missed out on one of the top ten trips in my life.

1 comment:

  1. The Galapagos Islands are the most incredible living museum of evolutionary changes, with a huge variety of exotic species (birds, land and sea animals, plants) and landscapes not seen anywhere else.

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