Archive for March, 2009

How do you explain this Darwin?

If you visit the Galapagos islands and you get to Santa Cruz Island, you better get away from the crowd and civilization by taking a 30 minutes taxi and drove to the beautiful "Garrapatero" beach. Beautiful since it is not filled with surfers :-)

Even more romantic: sometimes you can have this beach entirely for yourself!

Now some people do have funny ideas to tempt Darwin’s survival of the fittest theories…

darwin explorer santa cruz island

Survival of the fittest? …

Please do not leave anything behind, where-ever you go (on the entire planet) than your footsteps!


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Why traveling to Galapagos Islands?

The reason why I chose to go on a cruise to the Galapagos Islands is my passion for bird-watching.

Birds and all animals for that matter never encountered hostile humans, so you can really come up close and personal with the animals you want to observe and take marvelous pictures (depending on your photography skills of course).

galapagos flycatcher

Galapagos Flycatcher

Just have a look at this Galapagos Flycatcher: couldn’t get any closer than that!

This Galapagos flycatcher (Myiarchus magnirostris) was exceptionally bold and curious. After first sitting on the hat of our Galapagos National Park Naturalist Guide, the flycatcher went and visited the heads of most of us.

Picture taken at Post Office Beach during my visit to the Post Office Barrel on Floreana Island.


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Baltra

Baltra

Baltra Island and San Cristóbal Island are the only 2 airports in Galapagos you can land on to start Galapagos tours.

 

When you travel to the Galapagos islands, normally you will fly from any destination of the world to Quito, Ecuador. Then you take an airplane to one of the 2 Galapagos islands mentioned above to finally embark on one of the many Galapagos island cruises.

 

Like other Islands in Galapagos, Baltra island is very dry. Baltra’s vegetation consists mainly of bushes and cactus.  

 

Baltra island

 

Baltra island is not within the boundaries of the Galapagos National Park and the many iguanas you will see are not even native to Baltra island: the native Baltra iguana got extinct before the second world war.

 

So when somebody on those Galapagos island tours stress that Galapagos is The untouched paradise on earth, be reminded on Baltra island: where people land, wildlife is in danger…

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