2011

Good bye 2011, it was a great year...and here's to another great year in 2012.

"Bird Watching"

Look closely at this photo.  This gal on my Galapagos Island trip is carrying a spotting scope so she can see those birds up close. Now who is watching whom? This is the true meaning of "bird watching".

It's Monday Morning.

This is a sea lion I photographed this year in the Galapagos Islands.

Tawas Point Lighthouse

Took a drive yesterday to Tawas and while there took this photo of the lighthouse.

Galapagos Mockingbird

The Galapagos Mockingbirds are very common and easily approached.  They also love to get into any of your gear and take what they want so we had to be careful to zip all compartments.  They could become quite the pest but oh it was so nice to have wildlife that was that easy to approach.

Galapagos Island

This young gal was writing something in the sand (I'll show you that photo later).  I asked if I could photograph her and she nodded yes and had such a warm smile on her face that this became one of my favorite photos of my last trip.

Post Office Bay Floreana Island, Galapagos Islands

At Post Office Bay, since the 18th century whalers kept a wooden barrel that served as post office so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination, mainly Europe and the United States by ships on their way home. Cards and letters are still placed in the barrel without any postage. Visitors sift through the letters and cards in order to deliver them by hand.

Galapagos Island

This sea anemone was on the beach along with several others.  We had to be careful to not step on them as they sting.

Galapagos Islands Flamingo

The color of flamingo feathers is determined by their diet. Their food (specially the crustaceans) is full of substances called carotenoid pigments that cause flamingos' feathers to become pink.

Galapagos Islands Sea Urchins

Our guide, Roberto, is showing us some items that have been taken from the ocean such as sea urchins.

Sally Lightfoot Crab Galapagos Islands

SInce it's been so gloomy here in Michigan I thought I'd brighten your day by posting some of my Galapagos Islands photos.
The common name (Sally Lightfoot) is thought to have originated from a Caribbean dancer and refers to their inherent agility – jumping from rock to rock and climbing up vertical terrain.

Guarding the gear

If you look closely you can see we have one of the "locals" on the islands guarding our gear as we went in to do some snorkeling.

Galapagos Islands

These are a couple of photos from the air as I was approaching Baltra and beginning my adventure on the Galapagos Islands this past July.

Equator monument in Ecuador

In 1736 a French geodesic mission came to Ecuador to work out the position of the Equator here. Geodesics Avenue near the entrance to the Equator complex, has 13 stone busts representing the mission members.

The Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (city of the Middle of the World) is a cultural and commercial centre which takes in the Equator monument itself which was built in 1979, and is a copy of the original one which was here for 43 yrs. It is 30m high with a metallic sphere at the top representing Earth. A gold line represents the Equator, and this line is also marks the ground so that you can stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the south. The location of the monument is a pre-Incan site of sun worship.


It was a cold and nasty day when we stopped and we only had a few minutes to take a picture and get back on the bus as it was getting late in the day.