Galapagos Part II

We had such a good time on the cruise we decided to stay two extra days. Here is a sample of what we saw. In order they are: a sea turtle, a humpback whale, more tortoises, a baby frigate bird, and a great blue heron. On Friday August 20, we took a day trip to Santa Fe where we had an amazing time. We swam with lots of baby sea lions. They were so playful and they would even chew on our flippers! We also swam with sea turtles and a big sting ray. We even saw a 6ft black tip shark (we were in the boat for this one). On the way back home, we saw a mommy humpback whale and her baby. The calf even breached several times, but our cameras were not quick enough to capture that.

Galapagos Cruise

From August 16-19 we did a Cruise around the Galapagos Islands of Genovese, Bartolome, and Santa Cruz. Here is a sampling of what we saw. Pictures are of a Blue footed Booby, "Lonesome George" the last Giant Tortoise of his kind, a Galapagos Penguin, a baby sea lion, and a flamingo. We also got to do plenty of snorkeling with parrot fish, sea lions, moorish idols, and wrasses, just to name a few. Playing with the sea lions was a highlight. Seasickness was not. :(

Canopy Zipline in the cloud forest of Mindo

On Saturday August 7, we went on a long hike outside of Mindo and came upon a Canopy Zipline tour. It involved 12 zip lines (2 of which were a 1/4 mile long)! Buen Precio! It was only $13! We were able to try different positions on the zipline, including Superman and Mariposa (which you basically hang upside down with arms and legs flailing)!

Cascada de la Pita

We are now in Ecuador! On Thurday August 5, we hiked to this 180ft waterfall with a local Ecuadorian named Marlon and a German couple (Man those German girls can drink!) we met at our hostel in Quito. This picture was taken after we had walked behind the waterfall and Marlon nearly cracked his head open. It was a very exhilerating and wet experience to be behind such a powerful cascada.