Taking a Trip Down to the Galapagos!(Pt 1)

The Galapagos is one of the most untouched places in the world, with only about four of the islands being inhabited. Because of this low population and abundance of wildlife as I walked around the town it wasn't uncommon to see a tortoise slowly making its way along the road, or an iguana crawling across a pathway. This was amazing! Considering where I'm from the only thing remotely cool is a bird that didn't decide to fly away. The true isolation of these wonderful islands were shown through the long journey it took to make it there! The journey started of with a seven hour flight to Ecuador, and an additional two hour flight to the islands themselves. It was a truly a rough journey! We sat in the Galapagos airport for 40 minutes while all of our luggages were checked for anything that could pose a threat to the wildlife of the islands. Finally, once that step was complete, we took a boat from the island in which the airport was on, Baltra, to the main island, Santa Cruz, where the town is. Now, you think that we are done, but we are not! Following that ride we drove for two hours on a single road that stretched across the island to the town. There, once we stepped out of the car, we finally made it! After the journey and those experiences, I can truly understand what a unique experience the Galapagos can offer.

1. Sea Lions

This beach on the island of Santa Fe was scattered with not only rocks and stones, but also an abundance of sea lions. Some were lounging, sunbathing and sleeping atop one another, while others were energetically playing and chasing each other. This abundance of sea lions is not seen very often around the world, and it was truly a sight to see! Not only did I see many sea lions here on this beach, we were greeted with sea lions immediately after landing, at the bay of the town, and lounging on rocks around the islands. All of these sea lions loved taking advantage of of the shade provided by humans! While here, we were almost always hearing their barks, as if I was on a farm and was hearing the moos of cows. Although most of the sea lions were adults, there were quite a few adorable baby sea lions being in the shadows of their parents. I recall one baby sea lion who was interacting with tourists and loving the attention!

2. Iguanas

After walking up further into Santa Fe, I couldn't help but notice a pair of eyes looking at me, only to learn it was a massive iguana with camouflaged skin! These iguanas were almost like the squirrels of the Galapagos. We saw them quite often around and they didn't seem to be quite bothered by the people living around them. As seen in one of the pictures the iguana is eating a fruit, however this fruit grows on a cactus and only the iguanas actually eat this fruit! The iguana was really happy eating the fruit, gobbling it up while almost smiling at us! Every time I saw one of these guys, they were either lounging on a rock or rustling through brush.

3. Lizards

Claiming that I saw these lizards around often is quite an understatement! They were climbing on the outside of buildings, running across sidewalks, crawling in and out of bushes, or perching on rocks. These lizards were almost everywhere I went, on the main island and the islands we visited by boat as well. Sometimes when I saw them, they were perched on a wall, they would stay still for almost 30 minutes while they waited for a bug for them to catch! Alike a spider catching its prey.

The animals here captured through my photos are only a small part of the wildlife of the Galapagos, so hang on because there is some more to explore!