Amazon Explorers

Well, ok technically not the Amazon, the Napo River but it is one of the head waters of the Amazon so that counts!

 We did a little kayaking and canoeing.

And Katherine was the Piranha Queen as she caught the biggest fish...

George and I even swam in the river with the piranha.  No worries though as our guide assured us that piranha only attack humans in the swampy areas where food is not so plentiful.  I'm glad the piranha in this part of the river were well feed!   And that the caiman are nearer the shore!!!

 Their teeth look like this......so I am glad they weren't hungry!

And here's my handsome fellow explorer!  I'm glad he shares my love of travel!

Equator

Two chances to stand on the equator line.
First with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern...

 And then George is the southern and me in the northern.......that should have been reversed with me in the Southern, huh?

Fish Market

The Fish Market in Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos Islands reminded me of this meme!

Every fish you take

Every cut you make

Every sale you make

I'll be watching you!

Oh can't you see they belong to me
And how my poor heart aches with every fish you take!

Snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands

I'm not a very strong swimmer so snorkeling has always made me nervous....that is until we bought these handy little snorkeling vests!  They give me just enough float to make me feel confident and now I love it!

The colorful fish in the Galapagos Islands were beautiful!

I was swimming into a cove all alone thinking that there wasn't much to see in this area when I came face to face with a shark.  In my mind he was nose to nose with me but in reality he was probably about 4 feet away directly in front of me.  Total shock!  There were actually two 6 footers in the cove where we were snorkeling.  They went into a cave and our guide went in to try and get them to come out.  I wasn't sure if I really wanted him to aggravate a shark who was hiding in a cave.  No worries though!  He came out and posed for some photos and went back in!

 

Birds of the Galapagos

The Frigatebirds were the mascots of our little touring boat.

We were never sure if the cook threw out scraps for them or if they just liked the boat but they swarmed around us every day.

And they liked to get close....almost close enough to touch!

We got a chance to walk around their favorite nesting island.  This male with his red pouch prominently displayed seemed to be trying to attract the attention of a female.  Pretty impressive, if you ask me!

 Males and female Frigates share parenting duties feeding the babies.

I think the little frigates are pretty adorable! 

Who could possibly resist the Blue Footed Boobies?

 

Yes their feet are really blue!

We watched this adolescent bird beg his parent for food for quite awhile.

Notice that the young one does not have blue feet yet!  Finally she gave in and fed him.

 

That seemed to satisfy him for the time being and something else caught his attention.  

God has created a magnificent world filled with so many amazing things!

Amazing animals of the Galapagos

The animals of the Galapagos have no fear of the tourists.  These little sea lions acted like they wanted us to pet them and got very close.

The guides cautioned us NOT to touch them.  Their mothers recognize their little ones by their distinctive smells and adding some 'tourist scent' would only confuse them.  They just look so lovable and cuddly it was very tempting!

Some of the animals are not so cuddly looking....more like prehistoric monsters.

A marine iguana

A land iguana

And some really wildly colored Sally Lightfoot Crabs!

Galapagos Giant Turtles

Never been anyplace where there was a need for a sign like this:

 But there definitely was on the Galapagos Islands!  The famous giant tortoises are well, GIANT!

This big male had posed for the tourists for several hours,  When a 'good looking' young female strolled by he gave chase....love was in the air!  The guides told us that even when the female is interested she runs away.  If the male has the strength to chase and catch her, then she knows that he is healthy and strong.  Good genetic material!  Unfortunately we left before we saw how this little love affair ended!

One afternoon I was sitting on the balcony of our room when I heard a rustling in the brush.  I wondered what was trying to sneak up on me!  YOU can probably guess what it was....

Yep an tortoise happily munching his way through the brush near the rooms.

Galapagos Islands are really a magical place!