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We flew in to Quito, Ecuador, and visited the equator
monument just outside the city--here it is, the not-so-imaginary
line...
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Me, Kim, Mom, and Jeff on the equator... (obligatory
tourist shots...)
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Mom and Dad on the equator...
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...And then we flew out to the islands--I think this
was seen at our first shore excursion, sea lions making themselves at
home on the boats in the harbor...
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Our ship--a very small "cruise ship" but pretty much
the largest ship around in these islands. We took small zodaic
boats out to land on the islands at each stop.
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The welcoming committee...
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Sea lions (that's our ship in the background)
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Tracks of some little animals... Crabs of some sort? I
have no idea.
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Some shore scenery
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Blue-footed boobies fly over the water and then
suddenly fold their wings and plunge in to catch a fish...
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Like this! Very fast...
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Sea lions playing in the surf...
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Awwww, aren't they cute?!??
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I was lying in the sand about 3 feet from this one to
take this picture!
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American oyster catcher. (I don't think that's an
oyster in its beak, though.)
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Marine iguanas--these are the only sea-going lizards in
the world, and they only live here in the Galapagos!
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One of our naturalist guides, Veronica, pointing out
something just out of range of the camera...
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Well, the blue feet are a dead giveaway--here is a
blue-footed booby! (sheltering an egg--they stand over them to keep
them cool in the shade)
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Blue footed booby with two chicks.
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Someone's tracks again (an iguana, I think)
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Closer view of a marine iguana.
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Dead marine iguana!
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Beaches littered with sea lions...
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The Galapagos hawk, which our guides pointed out is the
top of the food chain here (no large predatory mammals, etc...)
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An albatross
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Part of an albatross courtship dance that we watched
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Marine iguanas enjoying the sun
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Coast scenery
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Yup, blue footed booby again.
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Mom the videographer
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Dad the photographer
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Giant tortoises
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Sally lightfoot crabs, and see the marine iguanas in
there too?
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A few more marine iguana pictures...
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A sponge! (not a sea sponge, actually litter?!?)
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broken up shells etc. on the beach
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Mom and Dad in snorkelling gear...
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Frigate bird (these are the same ones with the red
pouch that puffs out from their chest--see later photos...)
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Sally lightfoot crab
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A little motion on this one (I had barely enough light
to take this, and no tripod... still a cool picture though!)
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sea lion...
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I have no idea what plant this was, but I guess it
looked cool at the time.
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lava rocks
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you got it, a blue footed booby again.
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A land iguana this time! (all the other ones you saw
were marine iguanas)
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These boobies were starting a little courtship dance...
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I think she's showing off for him here... I never got a
good picture of them picking their feet up in the air...
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Frigate bird
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Galapagos shark! There were 4-5 of these circling
around the back of our ship on the last day...
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lava flow.
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View from a high point on one of the islands...
Recognize this from "Master and Commander"??
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Mom and Dad reading graffiti, some of which dates to
pirates using these bays as hideouts... A sea lion looks on...
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Cool tree.
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Prickly pear cactus--the Galalagos islands have a type
of these that grow as trees!
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Another cool plant.
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Lava flow.
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A cool picture of a marine iguana.
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Another lava flow
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Someone else's tracks...
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Flightless cormorants!! With food so prevalent near
shore, few competitors, and few predators, they lost their ability to
fly...
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flightless cormorant again
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another lava flow
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