Flaxx Does Galapagos

[FlaSoxxJim]

A couple of SoxTalkers expressed an interest in a recap of my just finished up trip to Galapagos. I'm more than happy to share some thoughts and images of this trip for those who are interested, and I'll do so here in this thread over the next couple of weeks or for as long as anybody cares.

 

It will probably come as a surprise to nobody — but the place was TOTALLY amazing. I could have spent a year there and not seen enough of it.

 

I'll post selected photos here but I'm up against upload space limits so I'll probably limit myself to links to images I post offsite. I'm posting a lot more on FaceBook and the public link is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2551...mp;l=5cfb942f19. I already posted about 3o images from the first day of the trip — a shore excursion to the small central island of North Seymour. Take a look if you are interested — photos include sea lions, iguanas, boobies (heh heh), frigate birds, and others.

 

I'll put up a very quick introduction to the Galapagos archipelago, its location, geology, age, etc. here in a bit. To whet your appetite, here's a sea lion pup we encountered on the first day. What a cutie!

 

Edited October 26, 2010 by FlaSoxxJim

[FlaSoxxJim]

OK, here's some quick background on the trip. It was not a scientific research trip in any way, although I did get to play naturalist in Darwin's playground.

 

I had the good fortune to be selected as the scientist-guide for a group of individuals making a Galapagos trip as part of my institute's "Friends" program — basically a booster or alumni type member program with enough adventurous and financially well off members to mount these sorts of trips once a year or so.

 

The group I brought out consisted of 10 people not counting myself, and we joined a group totaling 93 travelers aboard the gorgeous National Geographic Endeavor for an expedition led by Lindblad Expeditions.

 

We flew out of Miami the afternoon of Friday 10/15 and reached Quito Ecuador high up in the Andies in about 4 hours. After a quick layover we continued to the lowland town of Guayaquil Ecuador where we spent the night before heading out to Galapagos on Saturday morning.

 

The Galapagos archipelago is located about 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador. An air flight of about 90 minutes brought us to the island of Baltra located in the middle of the archipelago. We spent very little time on Baltra before being picked up by inflatable Zodiacs to head out to the Endeavor anchored offshore, but the tiny island has an interesting history that includes serving as a US military base duing and after WWII. The island is also interesting in that it is the result of tectonic uplift and it is not an old shield volcano like the larger low islands of the central and eastern archipelago.

 

We made shore trips, Zodiac runs, and snorkeling trips to different locations on and around various islands for the next week, returning every evening to this wonderful vessel.

 

[BigEdWalsh]

Wow. I really enjoyed the facebook pictures. Thanks for making them available for our viewing! That had to be quite the experience.

[Milkman delivers]

How many clubs did it take to bring that sea lion down?

[FlaSoxxJim]

Wow. I really enjoyed the facebook pictures. Thanks for making them available for our viewing! That had to be quite the experience.

 

And the pics that are up are just day 1 of the trip! Stay tuned while I work my through the rest of the trip photos.

 

Yes, it really was a great trip.

[FlaSoxxJim]

How many clubs did it take to bring that sea lion down?

 

I did have a good sized bull male chase me away from his girlfriends a couple of days into the trip. I was told the big boys shouldn't be messed with during breeding season.

[BigSqwert]

Did you see any half man, half monkeys?

[BigSqwert]

Also, what are your thoughts that the Galapagos is becoming bombarded with too much tourism which it could be, or already is, affecting the islands?

[FlaSoxxJim]

Did you see any half man, half monkeys?

 

I did not. Is this an obtuse pop culture reference I'm not up on??

 

Also, what are your thoughts that the Galapagos is becoming bombarded with too much tourism which it could be, or already is, affecting the islands?

 

The national park service tightly regulates the number of annual visitors, but the truth is it 10x more heavily visited now than 25 years ago. Certainly, there is a concern about the potential impacts of visitors. That said, we touristas are only allowed access to a very small, well marked and well policed portion of the islands. Further, you must be accompanied by a trained naturalist and you have to be off most of the islands by sunset and are not allowed to overnight.

 

The truth is that eco-tourists bring a HUGE amount of money to the islands and to Ecuador as a whole. A lot of that money goes to research, conservation, and education and that is not a revenue stream they want to do without so they will continue to try to do a balancing act.

[BigSqwert]

I did not. Is this an obtuse pop culture reference I'm not up on??

 

Heh sorry. You probably didn't hear the quote while you were gone. It was Glenn Beck, or maybe Christine O'Donnell, who said they didn't believe in evolution because they haven't seen a half man, half monkey.

 

The national park service tightly regulates the number of annual visitors, but the truth is it 10x more heavily visited now than 25 years ago. Certainly, there is a concern about the potential impacts of visitors. That said, we touristas are only allowed access to a very small, well marked and well policed portion of the islands. Further, you must be accompanied by a trained naturalist and you have to be off most of the islands by sunset and are not allowed to overnight.

 

The truth is that eco-tourists bring a HUGE amount of money to the islands and to Ecuador as a whole. A lot of that money goes to research, conservation, and education and that is not a revenue stream they want to do without so they will continue to try to do a balancing act.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Chi Town Sox]

How many clubs did it take to bring that sea lion down?

 

Club sandwiches not sea lions

 

[Chi Town Sox]

A couple of SoxTalkers expressed an interest in a recap of my just finished up trip to Galapagos. I'm more than happy to share some thoughts and images of this trip for those who are interested, and I'll do so here in this thread over the next couple of weeks or for as long as anybody cares.

 

It will probably come as a surprise to nobody — but the place was TOTALLY amazing. I could have spent a year there and not seen enough of it.

 

I'll post selected photos here but I'm up against upload space limits so I'll probably limit myself to links to images I post offsite. I'm posting a lot more on FaceBook and the public link is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2551...mp;l=5cfb942f19. I already posted about 3o images from the first day of the trip — a shore excursion to the small central island of North Seymour. Take a look if you are interested — photos include sea lions, iguanas, boobies (heh heh), frigate birds, and others.

 

I'll put up a very quick introduction to the Galapagos archipelago, its location, geology, age, etc. here in a bit. To whet your appetite, here's a sea lion pup we encountered on the first day. What a cutie!

 

 

Picture # 54 is great, it looks like the iguana is saying "Goodbye sweet world!" (difficult to notice at first)

[Milkman delivers]

Club sandwiches not sea lions

 

LOL, that got me.

[southsider2k5]

Club sandwiches not sea lions

 

Sea Lions taste better!

[Texsox]

I did have a good sized bull male chase me away from his girlfriends a couple of days into the trip. I was told the big boys shouldn't be messed with during breeding season.

 

 

That is cold, c-blocking a dude who only gets some once a year