[YEAR 7!] Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...
- Thread starter lightcycle
- Start date
lightcycle
Nomad
That's right, you're in Hawaii.
I'm always surprised at how far tsunamis are able to travel, almost half a world away sometimes. There was a really bad one in Japan a few years ago - from another Chilean earthquake.
We were a bit worried, but all the locals seem to take it in stride, which calmed us down a little.
lightcycle
Nomad
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/154.html on April 6th, 2014
Our route around the Galapagos takes us through a variety of different islands with different terrains and wildlife.
18 passengers + 6 crew on the Yolita II
From Puerto Ayora, we head back to the airport on Baltra Island, where we meet the rest of the passengers of the Yolita II, our floating home for the next 8 days. They're a mix of young and young-at-heart and they all speak English! It feels so good to be socializing again in our native tongue!
A freak nuclear waste spill on Genovesa Island resulted in some two-headed birds
The red-footed booby is rarer than its blue-footed cousin, even though it looks more commonplace
Neda loves all sorts of nature and she's really looking forward to seeing the wildlife. I'm not so much into it. I'm just on Galapagos so I can legitimately use the word "boobies" in every other sentence. There is a strict policy on Galapagos not to interfere with the wildlife, the rule is to always stay 4-feet or more from the animals. So basically I can look at boobies, but I can't touch them....
And so it begins.
Male frigate bird
As part of its mating ritual, the male frigate bird blows up a big red pouch under its beak to attract females. The bigger the pouch and the longer it can hold it, the more likely he is to attract a mate. They look like a chinless man trying to change a pillowcase. We walked through a whole field of these things, and the whole time I was humming "99 Luftballons"...
This guy got all the chicks
Baby blue-footed booby hiding out in the bush, safe from from predators
I had to thread my camera in to get a good picture. So cute!!!
Neda was so happy being around all these birds
It was pretty incredible how close we could get to the birds, they weren't afraid of people at all. There are so many visitors to the islands that they're so used to the human presence, especially when everyone keeps to the 4-foot rule.
If it wasn't for the 4-foot rule, I could have taken a picture of what this bird had for lunch
Our route around the Galapagos takes us through a variety of different islands with different terrains and wildlife.
18 passengers + 6 crew on the Yolita II
From Puerto Ayora, we head back to the airport on Baltra Island, where we meet the rest of the passengers of the Yolita II, our floating home for the next 8 days. They're a mix of young and young-at-heart and they all speak English! It feels so good to be socializing again in our native tongue!
A freak nuclear waste spill on Genovesa Island resulted in some two-headed birds
The red-footed booby is rarer than its blue-footed cousin, even though it looks more commonplace
Neda loves all sorts of nature and she's really looking forward to seeing the wildlife. I'm not so much into it. I'm just on Galapagos so I can legitimately use the word "boobies" in every other sentence. There is a strict policy on Galapagos not to interfere with the wildlife, the rule is to always stay 4-feet or more from the animals. So basically I can look at boobies, but I can't touch them....
And so it begins.
Male frigate bird
As part of its mating ritual, the male frigate bird blows up a big red pouch under its beak to attract females. The bigger the pouch and the longer it can hold it, the more likely he is to attract a mate. They look like a chinless man trying to change a pillowcase. We walked through a whole field of these things, and the whole time I was humming "99 Luftballons"...
This guy got all the chicks
Baby blue-footed booby hiding out in the bush, safe from from predators
I had to thread my camera in to get a good picture. So cute!!!
Neda was so happy being around all these birds
It was pretty incredible how close we could get to the birds, they weren't afraid of people at all. There are so many visitors to the islands that they're so used to the human presence, especially when everyone keeps to the 4-foot rule.
If it wasn't for the 4-foot rule, I could have taken a picture of what this bird had for lunch
lightcycle
Nomad
The heavy-lidded owl was at the top of the food chain, feeding on other birds
Sunset on Genovesa Island
We visited the Bahia Sullivan (Sullivan Bay) on Isabela Island. It's comprised mainly of lava that flowed out from the volcano but was cooled very quickly by the ocean so that it retained its molten shapes and forms.
Pinnacle Rock on neighbouring Bortolome Island is a famous Galapagos landmark
Like walking on the face of a planet designed by H. R. Giger (RIP)
We found ourselves part of a tour group
It felt very strange being a part of an organized tour. The pace of the 8-day schedule was relentless and we weren't used to having such regimented daily AM and PM activities. People paying for such a tour really get their money's worth! We make fun of people doing bus tours all the time, and here we are on the same kind of tour. I guess it's time to get off our high horse...
Volcanic lava frozen in the moment in came in contact with the ocean.
The black rock had a cool, metallic sheen to it.
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came..."
Neda fell down a deep crevasse. So I took some pictures. She asked for a hand. So I clapped...
Why do all turtles look like toothless old men? "Damn kids! Get off my lawn!"
Did you know that the Spanish word for tortoise is "Galapago". That's what the islands were named after when they were first discovered.
lightcycle
Nomad
Blue-footed booby. This picture looks like a negative.
We had come to Galapagos specifically to see the blue-footed booby, but surprisingly, I don't have many pictures of it. It's such a funny-looking bird with its cross-eyed stare, but it is Ecuador's national bird. The blue feet are such an anomaly, like seeing a tiger with pink stripes.
The Galapagos penguins are the furthest northern-dwelling pengiun in the world
They're not as majestic looking as their Emperor cousins at the south pole
We got a chance to snorkel with the penguins and they were so cute and curious about us, playfully darting in and out and all around us.
Blue-footed booby watches our dinghy tour through his home
This female turtle waited too long to lay her eggs and was caught out late in the season and died of sun exposure
Land iguana is checking out his new home
Beached coral found all over the island
A lizard scopes us out from his coral perch
This is us soaking up the heat and the sun. Totally loving it here!
"Catches thieves, just like flies...!"
We just sat and stared at these colourful crabs while they chowed down on some washed up seafood
Here there be monsters
When the first explorers landed on Galapagos, they thought these marine iguanas were monsters. Ironically, these scary-looking creatures are vegetarians, only eating seaweed and algae from the ocean floor. I tried to take an up-close video of one while snorkeling ahead of it, however as I turned around to face it, it didn't slow down or change course, but headed directly towards me. Holy crap, was that a scary sight! I quickly ducked out of its way, because, um... of the 4-foot rule, not because I'm a chicken-hearted booby....
Ever wonder what a movie audience looks like?
Neda says that she finds it so interesting how as most animals have evolved out of the water, these marine iguanas have basically evolved to be aquatic once again, finding food and sustenance in the seas. They're able to hold their breaths for long periods while eating underwater and once they're back on land, they blow the salt from the ocean waters out of their nostrils. The waves crashing on the rocky coast was constantly interrupted by the sounds of these iguanas sneezing salt into the air!
What a beautiful-looking hawk!
Would not want to be on the receiving ends of those talons
Booby tucks his blue-feet in, diving into the ocean for food
You'd think these boobys would break their necks diving in to such shallow waters at that speeds, but somehow they're able to turn their bodies right after entering the water to stop from hitting the bottom.
Our last day on board the Yolita II
This was a great way to take a little vacation from our vacation. We got to make some great new friends on the boat, as well as see some cool wildlife, but most of all, we got away from the constant rains on the mainland. So glad we came to the Galapagos!
joeyabisa
Adventurer
That is awesome!
lightcycle
Nomad
On June 14th 2012, we started a journey that was purposely designed to have no plan, no schedule and no destination. Throughout the last couple of years, we've had a lot of moments where we've said to each other, "Let's stay here awhile longer", as well as one: "Where else does this ship sail to? Cuba? Sounds good!" We've ridden through Central America twice, almost became Colombian citizens, and then cruised the Galapagos Islands, all according to no plan whatsoever.
So this last weekend, it was with bittersweet feelings that we celebrated our second anniversary on the road, because the winds are now pushing us half-way across the world to attend to a family emergency.
We've spent the last two weeks trying to organize our motorcycles and personal effects to be shipped to Croatia. In between all of the planning and logistics and worry, we took a small moment to remember what is important in our lives. That it's not the miles traveled, or the places seen - it's who you spend the time with. And that's exactly what we'll be continuing to do in Europe.
lightcycle
Nomad
Thanks to everyone at Expedition Portal for following along with us.
Since joining here, I've managed to copy almost 2 years of entries from our blog. Even updated the title of this thread. Year 3! Wow.
We're still running a couple of months behind, so I'll continue posting here and on our blog till we're in Europe. I'm not sure if there will be anything after, but feel free to explore the rest of our blog, there are more stories and pictures since 2004.
http://www.RideDOT.com
Since joining here, I've managed to copy almost 2 years of entries from our blog. Even updated the title of this thread. Year 3! Wow.
We're still running a couple of months behind, so I'll continue posting here and on our blog till we're in Europe. I'm not sure if there will be anything after, but feel free to explore the rest of our blog, there are more stories and pictures since 2004.
http://www.RideDOT.com
Scrapdaddy
Adventurer
I've enjoyed every post, as well. Thanks for sharing a part of your lives with us. I pray everything works out for you two.
