Ecuador - The highlights

It is remarkable considering the vastness of the Amazon forrest and that it can make you feel very very small and insignificant, that the bulk of the wildlife is in the micro. Without the insects this ecosystem wouldn't survive.

What surprised us most of all was the noise. When it grows dark the forrest comes alive with sound. Frogs of all shapes and sizes start their cacophonus choire practice. It's like living on a busy city street.

Mammals are few and rarely seen. Small monkeys can be found high up in trees if you know their address.

Birds are abundant on the other hand. These macaus er having their daily clay-lick which stabilizes their stomach for their otherwise too acid diet.

We were staying at a the Kapawi lodge, a four star lodge (if you can say so). Very good food, very nice cabanas, excellent tour guides. It is a very humbling experience for the technophile such as me to go so abruptly (yet gently) back to nature for a little while.

The Kapawi lodge is run in cooperation with the Achuar people, the indigenous people of the south-Ecuador Amazon. They have lived there for centuries, living of the fat of the land. Their way of life is structured as all societies are and simple, and we must help them to survive.

The first thing you notice about the Galapagos islands are the sea lions. We literally had to step over them to get into the dinghy to get to our sailboat.

The young ones are really playful and swim around you when you're in the water.

But it's not from the sea lions the Galapagos draws most of its fame. When people think of the Galapagos they think of giant tortoises.

And Darwin of course. We met the giant tortoises but we didn't meet Darwin. We saw the Beagle though.

To save some of the sub-species of giant tortoises from extinction the Darwin Research Center hatches eggs and takes care of the baby tortoises until they are big enough to fend for themselves.

We are rooting for tortoise number 50 to make it in the real world.

The giant tortoise can reach up to 1.7 m in length (over the shell) and 300 kg!

Some of these big fellows probably met Darwin when he travelled the Galapagos.

Another reason why people think of the Galapagos are the iguanas.

Being cold blooded they spend a substantial part of the day lying around and trying to gather warmth from the sun.

The marine iguanas (black/red) are very special as they have evolved to graze on sea algea which mean they actually graze under water and can stay submerged for a substantial amount of time.

Because they feed in the ocean their diet is very sodium heavy. They cannot digest all this salt so they gather it in a special gland and when they're back on land they sneeze it out. The white patches on the tops of their heads is salt residue from their sneezing.

The animals on the Galapagos do not mind your presence at all. The only thing that stops you from reaching out to touch them is at the request of the guide who urges you to respect them and their privacy.

The land iguanas aren't as famous as the algea-eating marine iguanas but they are much more colourful.

The islands don't enjoy the same richness in insectlife as the Amazon and so when an animal dies, its carcass mummifies slowly in the sun.

Other lizards, the aptly named Lava Lizards, are much smaller than the iguanas. They blend masterfully into the environment - only risking a red colour to attract attention from the girls during mating season.

When you don't have anything to be afraid of you can be as colourful as you like, that's what these crabs think at least. When they're small and vulnerable they blend perfectly in with the lava. When they've reached a mature size they flaunt everything they've got and make a beautiful visual contrast with the black lava.

The birdlife is spectacular but since we do not pride ourselves in our ornithology our pictures focus more on the more picturesque birds rather than the more famous Darwin's finches. Basically they all look the same but are outfitted with different types of beaks depending on what they feed on.

The most picturesque bird (which somebody accused me of photoshopping) is of course the blue-footed booby. Have you ever seen such happy feet?

They are expert divers and it is quite spectacular to see them diving for fish.

To entice the lady birds the male birds have the most peculiar dance which draws attention to their beautiful sky-blue feet by raising their wings.

The blue-footed booby is not the only type of booby on the Galapagos. This here is the Nazca booby.

I like the pelican. It has a very usable pouch but it lacks a certain grace.

No grace is lacking in the albatross though, despite its size. This is the waved albatross, the second larges albatross with a wingspan of over 2m.

This guy is trying to impress the lady (if it isn't obvious, like always).

Flamingos are always a great photo-material. Especially now when green and pink are the new black.

This yellow bird is the yellow warbles - nice picturesque contrast on the black lava.

Not even birds of pray minded us coming right up to them and clicking away. They flew away at their leasure.

The penguin seemed very happy with our presence. Or is it so pleased with itself? Does it have happy feet?

At least it can boast of being the northern most penguin in the world and be quite pleased with its selection of habitat here on the Galapagos rather than on the Antarctic.

The landscape is very icelandic. One could almost feel like home, if it weren't for the cacti and white sand beaches.

The wildlife isn't less exciting below the surface. Dolphins played around the boat, a blue whale graced us with it's precence.

And with the slightest peak into the water a whole world came to life.

COMMENTS

LatentE said at 8:33 p.m. on Jun 18, 2007:
Great tabblo.

Smidgentigre said at 9:08 p.m. on Jun 18, 2007:
From the rain forest to the Galapagos Islands....what great photos! I think these are places I will only go in my dreams and thru other peoples' pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Wflorence said at 10:36 p.m. on Jun 18, 2007:
Outstanding Tabblo. Lots of good information. Keep it up.

Brian_Doyle said at 6:15 a.m. on Jun 19, 2007:
What a wonderful Tabblo. If I counted right there were 119 photos that show the range of wild life. You can understand how Darwin must have felt when he fist saw these creatures. The time and effort in this Tabblo is extensive and I thank you for your effort. I dont put many into my favourites but this will be One. Favourites should be special not just nice. I am now going back into all your links.

Jerii said at 10:18 p.m. on Jun 20, 2007:
WOW! What a journey! Thanks for taking us along.

Chilla said at 9:21 a.m. on Jul 26, 2008:
This is such an amazingly interesting tabblo. I would really love to do this trip. Thank you for sharing your experiences and for all the notes.

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