A striated heron

We took a walk along the paths near the hotel this morning. We hoped to see a striated heron, a somewhat rare bird we never saw before.  Chris eventually spotted one in the beach near the hotel.  We had a fun time watching this striated heron getting some breakfast. When we tired and came up to use the pool, Mike was inside showering and to her surprise Chris saw the heron came and enjoy the steps into the pool giving Chris another chance to enjoy his beauty.

Bartolome Island

We almost canceled going to Bartolome Island because the reviews said it’s a long way to go for little wildlife.  Our guide, Maritza, talked us into it saying we could customize the tour and spend more time on a tender looking for birds and skip walking up steep steps to observe the geology of the island. She also said the boat was more comfortable than the snorkeling/speed boat we went out to a Española on. Now, that was an understatement! Many moons ago in a galaxy far far away, Jamaica to be exact, Mike gave Chris the nickname princess cushy butt. Basically Chris will rough it just for so long and then likes to be in comfort.  Lovely yatch! Fresh water warm showers stern side, clean restrooms and changing rooms, hot buffet lunch served with tablecloths, air conditioning or open air choice and a crew looking after your every need.

Mike being Mike on the hotel yatch - drinking coffee and editing his great photos.

Here’s a frigate catching a fish.

Mike was photographing frigates and heard Chris laughing.  He turned and saw one fish jumping out of the water chasing another and got a photo.

Maritza and Chris in the tender.

Happy couple - happy to have an excellent private naturalist guide and plenty of time looking for our priorities in the tender.

Blue-footed Boobies are so adorable you would want one as a pet - but what a messy pet they would be!

A penguin, an iguana and a crab walk into a bar ...........

Order what you will, there’ll be no bill ........isn’t that what all penguins sing as per Mary Poppins?

There’s a bill for this somewhere but it’s worth every penny!

Are we cute or what!?  It’s a jolly holiday with Maritza! 

The snorkeling was very nice as well. Lots of starfish, tropical fish and two sharks.

Chris was completely at ease again because Maritza took a ring and guided her along.

We wound up staying in the water an hour! We are finding the snorkeling to get a little repetitive now,

so we will probably just take jumps in to cool off on our next outings instead of snorkeling.

Arriving on Santa Cruz Island

What started out as a rather odd and confusing day turned out very nice. We were picked up at our hotel on San Cristóbal by a young man to take us to the airport who we had not met previously. He said, “maybe you speak Spanish?” Since we do not, we were obviously confused when he boarded the 8 seater plane and flew with us to Santa Cruz. Once landed in Santa Cruz, our next guide spoke perfect English and helped us sort out the details. We have never booked our travels through an agency before and didn’t realize this time when we did that meant having someone hold our hands while changing islands. Actually, apart from not being able to communicate much, it was helpful and Chris felt completely spoiled by not having to carry her own bags.

He took a  boat back and we were left in the care of Maritsa and a driver who gave us a lovely introduction to Santa Cruz. We stopped along the drive to bird just a bit and then stopped at manzanilla ranch where tortoises hang out. We had a nice lunch there and were then brought to finch bay resort, which is quite a step up from our last digs. We learned a lot about the tortoises and had time to rest in the afternoon after checking in because tomorrow is another full day boat excursion to Bartolome Island. This time it will be on the hotel’s yatch and Maritsa will be our private guide. She is very energetic and helpful so we are looking forward to it.

Back to the tortoises - notice the top photo the dome of the shell is wider and flatter. That is what happens as they age in comparison to the higher, rounder dome of the younger one below it.  We spotted the Galapagos flycatcher while at the tortoise stop and also some white cheeked pintail ducks.  The pintails here are much smaller than other pintails we are familiar with. They are very cute and several are enjoying the pool at Finch Bay, which is fine because it’s a National Geographic unique lodge so they clean the pool in a way that is safe for the wildlife that enjoys it. Chris thinks this bit of info was code for along with cute ducks you might find iguanas in the pool as well. Time will tell on that.

Chris snorkeled with sea lions

One of the activities on the Española tour was snorkeling.  We took a two hour boat ride from San Cristóbal to Española. One Dramamine just wasn’t doing the trick, but after downing a second one Chris managed to enjoy the time somewhat. We arrived and took about a two hour hike and saw the birds that inhabit that island. Chris had to endure many mosquito bites and was threatening divorce.  The second half of the day after lunch was snorkeling time. We had our own guide, Edison, for just the two of us so Chris felt comfortable going at her own pace. He had a floating ring and when he let go of it to dive to the bottom, a sea lion pup took hold of the rope in its mouth for just a couple seconds giving Chris a little ride and a good underwater laugh putting all thoughts of divorce aside. It was great fun! They are so naturally playful and it’s nice to see them exhibit that behavior in their natural habitat. Of course there were colorful fish and a turtle which we have seen snorkeling before - but the highlight had to be the sea lions.

Española Island

We took a boat tour out to Española Island and saw waved albatrosses, red-billed tropic-birds, Nazca Boobies, Española mockingbirds, and Galapagos doves and Galapagos Hawks.

San Cristóbal Island

Well we made it to the Galapagos. Right after arriving, we went on a short walk to La Loberia to see local wildlife. Eventually Chris got used to the marina iguanas and she was really brave walking past  them. Mike talked the guide into taking us longer to see some birds, and it turned into an excruciating hike over lava boulders.  It might’ve been worth it for the courtship dance of the blue-footed booby, but the best bird we saw was a juvenile swallow-tailed gull,

The next day we went to frigate bird hill for a much shorter walk.  Here we saw mockingbirds and finches including a cactus finch sitting on eggs in a nest.

The most photographic bird however, was the yellow warbler which we also get in the US and we saw near the restaurants.

Tomorrow we are off on a boat to Espanola, an uninhabited island, that should have more birds.

Quito

We are in Quito just for one full day. We booked a room at the Hotel Plaza Grande that overlooks the plaza featuring the  Carondelet Palace, the seat of government of the Republic of Ecuador.  To the distance on a hill is the stature of Virgin Mary.  We didn’t know there would be a ceremony in the morning complete with horses.

Statue of Virgin Mary

Our hotel