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Day 7 Galapagos

July 26, 2014 By sue Leave a Comment

P10408855 October 2011

Overnight we have travelled south and awake at Santa Fe Island.  The contrast is enormous – this island is one of the oldest of the Galapagos group estimated to be at least 4 million years old. It is a small island covered in brush, palo santo trees and large prickly pear cactus.  It has an endemic Santa Fe Land Iguana and an endemic Santa Fe Rice Rat, both of which we were lucky enough to see, along with a banded snake.

Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Iguana
Santa Fe Iguana
Santa Fe Rice Rat
Santa Fe Rice Rat
Banded Snake
Banded Snake

From there we travelled a relatively short distance to the Plazas Islands just off the east coast of Santa Cruz.  Another sharp contrast awaited us.  These tiny rocky islands are covered in spectacularly coloured ice plants and towering prickly pear cactus.  The land iguanas are resplendent in yellow mating colours.  We see swallow tail gulls feeding their chicks and spend a long time trying to photograph the red billed tropic birds.  Another treat is in store for us when, from the tops of the cliffs, we see a strange shaped mass rolling in the waves.  It turns out to be a turtle stack: when turtles are mating others apparently try to join in the action and it is not unusual to see three or more locked together.

Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Plazas Islands
Colourful Ice Plants
Colourful Ice Plants
Yellow Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Land Iguanas in mating colours
Land Iguanas in mating colours
Land Iguanas in mating colours
Land Iguanas in mating colours
Prickly Pear cactus
Prickly Pear cactus
P1050019
P1040953
Swallow tail gull feeding chick
Swallow tail gull feeding chick
Oops where's my mum
Oops where’s my mum
Perhaps I'd better hide
Perhaps I’d better hide
See tropic bird in centre
See tropic bird in centre
Close up of tropic bird
Close up of tropic bird
Tropic bird burrows
Tropic bird burrows
Tropic Bird
Tropic Bird
Turtle mating stack
Turtle mating stack
Turtle mating stack
Turtle mating stack
P1050036

That evening we have cocktails and roast dinner to commemorate our last night on the Monserrat and to celebrate our wonderful crew.

Guide Daniel
Guide Daniel
Cocktails to celebrate our wonderful Monserrat crew
Cocktails to celebrate our wonderful Monserrat crew
Monserrat Crew
Monserrat Crew
P1050148
Roast dinner
Roast dinner
P1050151
P1050153

 


For similar trips see:

Explore South America with Intrepid Travel (a range of different travel styles – see my post on travel styles)

Peregrine Adventures Travel Destinations (Comfort and independent tours)

Geckos Adventures (for 18 to 30s)

Note: After people telling me they had booked an Intrepid Tour on my recommendation, I now have affiliate links with the Intrepid Travel group of companies and may receive a commission if you book a tour online within a couple of months after clicking through to these sites.  So if you are enjoying my tips and stories and finding them useful in choosing your own travel, please click on these links and help me to bring you more ☺.


 

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Filed Under: Ecuador & Galapagos, Latin America, Travel Tagged With: Galapagos

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Life’s Bounty is about all the things I enjoy experiencing, creating, and sharing. Join me as I travel in search of new experiences; coax more produce from my backyard in Auckland, New Zealand and preserve the harvested bounty; and try my hand at making anything from cider to jewellery to cards to gift packs of soap.
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