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Galapagos Islands Photo Gallery - Day 2 North Seymour and Santa Fe

In August 2007 we traveled to Quito, Ecuador, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, and the Galapagos Islands

Galapagos 2-1-01 Day Schedule I got up at 6:00 and showered before going to the dining area and making instant coffee. At 7:00 we enjoyed a buffet breakfast, and then at 8:00 got ready for the fist excursion of the day. Each morning, Johnny wrote the schedule for the day on a whiteboard.

Galapagos 2-1-01 Day Schedule

Galapagos 2-1-02 North Seymour Coast We started our day with a dry landing on North Seymour, a very small uplifted (as opposed to volcanic) island just north of Baltra.

Galapagos 2-1-02 North Seymour Coast

Galapagos 2-1-03 North Seymour Baby Sea Lion Just after landing on North Seymour, a baby sea lion and his older sibling walked across our path.

Galapagos 2-1-03 North Seymour Baby Sea Lion

Galapagos 2-1-04 North Seymour Baby Sea Lion Close Up The baby sea lion was very cute, and nestled at our feet on North Seymour.

Galapagos 2-1-04 North Seymour Baby Sea Lion Close Up

Galapagos 2-1-05 North Seymour Marine Iguanas Marine iguanas lazed around on North Seymour, soaking up the sun to warm up after they cooled down at night, and before they would dive into the water to feed.

Galapagos 2-1-05 North Seymour Marine Iguanas

Galapagos 2-1-06 North Seymour Sally Lightfoot Crab The Sally Lightfoot crabs are abundant on the lava rocks along the water's edge.

Galapagos 2-1-06 North Seymour Sally Lightfoot Crab

Galapagos 2-1-07 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby Courtship Dance The visitor trail on North Seymour is approximately 2.5km in length, crossing the inland of the island and exploring the rocky coast. Named for their blue legs and feet, blue-footed boobies perform their courtship dance in the more open areas. The courtship of the blue-footed booby consists of the male flaunting his blue feet and dancing to impress the female. During the dance, the male will spread his wings and stomp his feet on the ground.

Galapagos 2-1-07 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby Courtship Dance

Galapagos 2-1-08 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby The blue-footed booby is one of the highlights of our trip to the Galapagos. We could get so close it was amazing.

Galapagos 2-1-08 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby

Galapagos 2-1-09 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby Close Up Here is a close up of a blue-footed booby on North Seymour.

Galapagos 2-1-09 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby Close Up

Galapagos 2-1-10 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby Family Here is a blue-footed booby family with two babies.

Galapagos 2-1-10 North Seymour Blue-footed Booby Family

Galapagos 2-1-11 North Seymour Lava Lizard Endemic to the Galapagos, the colourful lava lizard is a fairly small reptile measuring only about 30cm long. The female has the red colour under her chin. The males are more speckled and bigger. This one is a male.

Galapagos 2-1-11 North Seymour Lava Lizard

Galapagos 2-1-12 North Seymour Male Magnificent Frigatebird North Seymour has good nesting sites for a large population of magnificent frigatebirds. The magnificent frigatebird is a large black bird with a long wingspan and a hooked beak for snatching prey out of the water or catching flying fish. The male magnificent frigatebird is known for the large red pouch on his neck and purple iridescence on the wings.

Galapagos 2-1-12 North Seymour Male Magnificent Frigatebird

Galapagos 2-1-13 North Seymour Male and Female Magnificent Frigatebirds During mating season the adult male magnificent frigatebird throws back his head, inflates his throat pouch like a balloon, and shakes trying to capture the attention of female Frigates. Yee-hah. I got one. The male magnificent frigatebird enjoys himself with a female frigate.

Galapagos 2-1-13 North Seymour Male and Female Magnificent Frigatebirds

Galapagos 2-1-14 North Seymour Young Frigatebird After the magnificent frigatebird puffs up his red pouch and is successful, the result is a young magnificent frigatebird with a white head and breast.

Galapagos 2-1-14 North Seymour Young Frigatebird

Galapagos 2-1-15 North Seymour Female Great Frigatebird The great frigatebird is very similar to the magnificent frigatebird. The female great frigatebird has a red ring around the eye and a white throat and breast. They are called frigates because they often steal prey from other birds like boobies by harassing them in the air till the victims drop their catch. Being such agile flyers, frigates then swoop down and catch it in midair, juggling it further so they can swallow it.

Galapagos 2-1-15 North Seymour Female Great Frigatebird

Galapagos 2-1-16 North Seymour Baby Great Frigatebird The baby great frigatebird has a pale orange wash around their head and neck.

Galapagos 2-1-16 North Seymour Baby Great Frigatebird

Galapagos 2-1-17 North Seymour Frigatebird I looked up to see birds swooping overhead on North Seymour. Here is a frigatebird.

Galapagos 2-1-17 North Seymour Frigatebird

Galapagos 2-1-18 North Seymour Swallow-tailed Gulls Swallow-tailed gulls are endemic to the Galapagos, and are supposedly the only nocturnal gull in the world. Here is a swallow-tailed gull with a baby perched on the cliff edge on North Seymour.

Galapagos 2-1-18 North Seymour Swallow-tailed Gulls

Galapagos 2-1-19 North Seymour Swallow-tailed Gull Here is a swallow-tailed gull coming in for a landing on North Seymour.

Galapagos 2-1-19 North Seymour Swallow-tailed Gull

Galapagos 2-1-20 Gordon Rocks We got back on the Eden and sailed during lunch and afternoon to our next stop – Sante Fe. On the way I spotted three small islets called Gordon’s Rocks, a short distance north of the Plazas islands off the east coast of Santa Cruz. Roca Gordon is said to be one of the best dive sites around Santa Cruz.

Galapagos 2-1-20 Gordon Rocks

Galapagos 2-2-01 Santa Fe Sea Lions On Peninsula Santa Fe (Barrington) is located in the southeastern part of Galapagos. Its maximum elevation is only about 200m. Santa Fe has one of the most beautiful coves of all the visitor sites in the Galapagos. The Santa Fe cove is protected by a peninsula that extends from the shore, with Galapagos sea lions resting on the rocks.

Galapagos 2-2-01 Santa Fe Sea Lions On Peninsula

Galapagos 2-2-02 Santa Fe Wet Landing Sante Fe was a wet landing which meant we got as close as we could to shore and then hopped into the ankle to calf-deep water to walk the rest of the way. There is no fresh water on the island so it has been relatively undisturbed by human activity and introduced animals. Among the unique species that can be seen there are the Santa Fe land iguana.

Galapagos 2-2-02 Santa Fe Wet Landing

Galapagos 2-2-03 Santa Fe Sea Lions On Beach Sea lions dot the white sand beach on Sante Fe, with our boats bobbing in the turquoise lagoon protected by a peninsula of rocks and small islands that extends from the shore.

Galapagos 2-2-03 Santa Fe Sea Lions On Beach

Galapagos 2-2-04 Santa Fe Land Iguana As we walked along the trail, Johnny spotted a Santa Fe land iguana. The yellowish animals are over a metre long, with males weighing up to 13kg. These iguanas are the largest in the islands and their golden color is similar to the cactus fruit they eat. The Santa Fe land iguana has more pronounced spines along its back and is a lighter yellowish-orange than the iguanas on other islands.

Galapagos 2-2-04 Santa Fe Land Iguana

Galapagos 2-2-05 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus The mainstay of the land iguana diet is the endemic prickly pear cactus, named for the pear shaped fruit the plant produces. The Santa Fe prickly pear cactus can grow up to a 3m high tree-like form in response to grazing pressure from the land iguanas.

Galapagos 2-2-05 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus

Galapagos 2-2-06 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus Oval Pads The land iguanas eat the green oval pads and fruit, including the spines, of the prickly pear cactus.

Galapagos 2-2-06 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus Oval Pads

Galapagos 2-2-07 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus Trunk Close Up The prickly pear cactus has a long straight trunk with thick, reddish-brown bark, forming a beautiful pattern.

Galapagos 2-2-07 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus Trunk Close Up

Galapagos 2-2-08 Santa Fe Colourful Palo Santa Tree Colourful lichens cling to a palo santo tree on Santa Fe. Palo Santo means holy wood and is also called the Incense Tree because the aromatic wood is used for incense.

Galapagos 2-2-08 Santa Fe Colourful Palo Santa Tree

Galapagos 2-2-09 Santa Fe Lava Lizard Endemic to the Galapagos, the colourful lava lizard is a fairly small reptile measuring only about 30cm long. The female has the red colour under her chin. The males are more speckled and bigger. This one is a female.

Galapagos 2-2-09 Santa Fe Lava Lizard

Galapagos 2-2-10 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus and Beach We continued on the trail nearing the beach at Santa Fe, framed by a prickly pear cactus.

Galapagos 2-2-10 Santa Fe Prickly Pear Cactus and Beach

Galapagos 2-2-11 Santa Fe Beach We completed the 800m circular trail back to the beach at Santa Fe.

Galapagos 2-2-11 Santa Fe Beach

Galapagos 2-2-12 Santa Fe Rays Next To Boat As we sailed away from Santa Fe, we could see lots of rays swimming next to the boat.

Galapagos 2-2-12 Santa Fe Rays Next To Boat

Galapagos 2-2-13 Santa Fe Next Stop Espanola After dinner we started for our next stop, Espanola, the oldest and the southernmost island in the chain. The 6-hour trip is across open waters and was the roughest we experienced in our 7 days.

Galapagos 2-2-13 Santa Fe Next Stop Espanola


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