JUST LANDED

There’s little that excites me more than seeing a new animal I’ve never seen before. It’s called a “lifer.” The next days there’ll be lots of them.

Just landed. It’s overcast and the water looks cold. Glad I brought my super thick wet suit and head covering.

Landed on Baltra island.

The first island we’re going to (after a delicious lunch and 3 hour nap) is Seymour island, which happens to be my mother’s maiden name and my middle name, so I consider this ancestral. Darwin never came to this island.

We are divided into two groups, there are the ones making the longer, faster hike and us– Michele, Cheryl, Nathalie. And me–making the shorter, slower hike. This doesn’t fit my self-image but it corresponds to my present reality.

We saw seals, Blue-footed boobies, land iguanas and frigate birds right away.

Like all the islands, this is of volcanic origin. We have to stick to a path despite attempts to go off and get closer to the unafraid animals.

Now we’re back to wash up and go to dinner.

See you next time

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Arriving at galapagos. Real flat and from the distance, innocuous.. Which shows–gotta slow down and look close to really see

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Seals sleeping on the benches at the boat landing.

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First zodiac leaving for Seymour Island excursion

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Lucho Verdesto, our naturalist.

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The slow and steady group

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Juvenile land iguana

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A land iguana resting next to an iguana.

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Mama frigate feeding her young

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A not-so-young sea lion nursing her mother

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The girls, fascinated.

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Our boat, the National Geographic Islander, which belongs to Lindblad Expeditions

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Baby Penguin

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A female Blue- Footed booby who just hatched a chick.

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A young frigate bird who was surveying a sea lion

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Galapagos land iguana

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Female land iguana

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A sleeping seal under a bush. Reminds me of Tulea.

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Resting juvenile frigate birds

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Polosanto or Holy Wood. It has lost it’s leaves right now. It is in the incense family.

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Galapagos sunset

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31 Comments

  1. Thank you for Twittering/Blogging your trip to the Galapagos Islands! I’ll never get there & this is the next best thing. I’m having a great time. lol

  2. I call them ” Shechiyanu moments” for the Jewish prayer that we say to be thankful to have reached these moments. I said it a lot on my Galapagos trip! I was constantly amazed at the animal life and the wonder of it all!

  3. Looks so different than I imagined! Thank you for sharing a journey/adventure that I’ll never actually experience.

  4. LOL The expression on that woman’s face as the seal approaches is so funny.

    The island looks beautiful!

    Best,
    Amanda

  5. I saw those same seals when I was there! I’m enjoying “reliving” this place as you blog.

  6. Happy, very happy, to just have found your blog. I will check in every day. Good luck and enjoy time with family and friends.
    Lena

  7. Did you notice that Baltra’s alternative name is South Seymour Island, named for a Lord Seymour? An ancestor of yours, Jane?

  8. Esa toma aérea es fantástica!!!!!!!!!! Ojalá en los próximos días salga el sol pues el lugar se verá aún más hermoso.
    Desde Uruguay con cariño

  9. God bless the animals !!

  10. OMG!!! Such fabulous photos. This place is unbelievable…the beautiful animals that live on this island. all i can say is Thank you thank you thank you!! You continue to be so filled with surprises for us all…Have a BLAST! xoxo

  11. HI Jane
    This is such fun.And thanks for the lovely photos.I assume that someone is also filming this once in a lifetime trip!
    I look forward to 9 more days of photos and your description of this fascinating place.

  12. Wonderful photos Jane, The land that time did forget

  13. Thank you so much for sharing your trip, as someone mentioned earlier, “I will never get there”, as I am afraid to fly. So this is wonderful being able to see what you are experiencing. Thank you again,

  14. Galapagos Sea Lion Mother-Pup Bond:
    Breeding takes place from May all the way through to January. Because of this prolonged breeding season and the extensive care required by the pups from their mother, there are dependent pups in the colonies year round. Each cow in the harem has a single pup born a year after conception. After about a week of continuous attention from birth, the female returns to the ocean and begins to forage, and just a week after that, the pup will follow her and begin to develop its swimming skills. When the pup is two to three weeks old the cow will mate again. The mothers will take the young pups with them into the water while nursing until around the 11th month when the pups are weaned from their mother’s milk and become dependent on their own hunting skills.

    The pups have a strong bond with their mother. The cow will nurture a pup for up to three years. In that time the cow and the pup will recognize each other’s bark from the rest of the colony. Within the colony sea lion pups live together in a rookery. Pups can be seen together napping, playing, and feeding. It is not uncommon to see one cow ‘baby-sitting’ a group of pups while the other cows go off to feed.

  15. I kept thinking two things on our trip in the Galapagos — since all but two of the islands don’t have humans, it felt to me almost like a glimpse of life before people — metaphorically what it would have been like on day 5 of creation. I could understand Darwin in a new way.

    And I marveled how the animals and birds were not afraid of us. When I asked the guide, why, he responded, “because no human has ever tried to hurt them.” I was stunned by the thought — what if no one had ever tried to hurt us? Who would we be if we had no life experience that taught us to be protective, to fear another?

    When I preached about this, one congregant said, “I’d be less interesting!” But, I’d like to think that we’d also be more open, more vulnerable, more present…

    Blessings to you all on this adventure.

  16. Jane, I’ve always admired you and loved your dad. On golden pond is one of my all time favorite movies. But this blog is just admazing! I’ve been following your blog from the start. So lucky to have heard about it. I’ll never get to NY and all the places you been, but its wonderful to see it thru your eyes. You are not only very talented, but seem so human and down to earth. Thank you for sharing your life. You have such a wonderful spirit and presence in your writing. May the universe shine on you were ever you travel. Keep blogging its wonderful!

  17. Your comment on the two groups – longer/faster and shorter/slower struck me – imagine what you might miss out on if the “longer/faster you” had been there. I like the sound of the go slow option. Gets you closer to what’s happening – helps the listening and the looking. What a wonderful opportunity. Thanks for sharing!

  18. Oh wow! That is just so amazing how close you can get to the animals. They are all so beautiful!

  19. great photos,what energy you have!
    michael s

  20. Cool pics. How’s the knee holding up?

  21. Miss Fonda, I must say you have a flair for taking pictures. You really capture a lot in a photograph. Have you ever considered photography as a side hobby? It’s interesting because I was thinking just the other day how Katharine Hepburn painted and really captured a lot from people and places in her spare time, and how you do the same with photographs.

  22. Great pics! Have a nice holiday 🙂

  23. Thanks so much for sharing, Jane. You have gotten me into Twitter and blogging and it is wonderful. Thanks too, for sharing your life and work with all of us, your fans of so many years. I also will check in every day. Enjoy!!

  24. Your photos are breathtaking!! We are so blessed with the animals that share our planet. We must keep their habitats safe. Went to NYC on Saturday to see Erik. He was a bit down in the dumps. Saw the beautiful note you wrote to him. Thank you for your support of him. He is very humble and shy of the spotlight. Your love & support gave him renewed confidence in his talents! Feel good and thank you, again, Erik’s mom

  25. Jane– A treat to read and see the photos. i visited this time last year and simply loved it. Hi to Michelle, Lucinda, Belinda, and Judy ( and am probably forgetting a few) — what a fun group…
    Enjoy–
    Anne (in building)

  26. I’m really enjoying your adventure vicariously! Thanks for taking the time to share. Certainly hope that your knee is behaving and not causing you too much trouble.

  27. You are something. Just came back from a trip to the west coast, Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Monical. Exhausting. Love your energy.

  28. So happy you are continuing your blog after the play! It is a joy to see Galapagos and follow your journey.

  29. Love these photos! Do you think the tourists are managed in such a way that doesn’t upset the delicate ecological balance there? It looks like such a magical place!!

  30. Thanks so much for sharing this trip with us. It’s a place I will never get to see in person, but this is the next best thing. I love the previous comment about the animals not having anything to fear. That will stick with me for a long time. Hope your leg is not causing you pain.
    B

  31. I went to the Galapagos Islands 30 years ago when the only place I’d been (out of the US) was Canada!! Next thing I knew I was on a boat in the Pacific looking at the southern hemisphere sky with people from all over the world. One couple was an astronomer and her husband who built astronomical observatories. I was wide-eyed to say the least. I was 24 years old and used every penny I earned to get there. The blue footed boobies with their dramatic feedings of their young, the marine and land iguanas, the frigate birds with their heart throbbing mechanism to attract their mates, I remember it all so well. I was sad when I saw a sea lion dying from being cut by the blade of a boat. I felt guilty that we were tourists invading their land, however I believe going there taught me a reverence for the earth that many people felt after they saw “Planet Earth”. I wish everyone could experience the beauty and the wonder of the Galapagos Islands. You and I are very lucky!! Thanks for your beautiful pictures and for making the trip given your knee struggles. I like your attitude of “do what we can” each day. I am just like you, I don’t want to miss anything!! I am sure you must be ready for a new trip, now that you have a new knee. Go get ’em, Jane!!

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