Galapagos - Lobsters On Ice

Lobsters on Ice

ECUADOR

July 2003

Life doesn't get any better than the Galapagos. Four thumbs up! Nature (as you think you know it), acting differently. We sat next to hundreds of sea lions as they went about their daily laziness and they made us feel like one of them. We actually had to warn each other NOT to accidentally step on a suckling mother and pup as we walked along the trails. Even the Blue Footed Boobies nursed their young in direct view and weren't bothered in the least by us.

There are some 13 volcanic islands that make up the Galapagos Archipelago located just under the equator. They are some 600 miles to the west of Ecuador. The islands range in age from 4 million years old to still being formed. Today the Galapagos are owned by Ecuador and are maintained as part of that nation's national park system. About 95% of the islands are part of the park, with the remainder being inhabited by about 14,000 people in four major communities.

The Darwin Connection
Charles Darwin made his first scientific study of the islands in 1835. He was on a round-the-world voyage on the HMS Beagle from 1831-1836 as a yound student and naturalist and had just spent the previous four years exploring the geology and wildlife of South America. Darwin later said that the Galapagos were the "source of all his ideas and research" and, of all the visitors there, the Galapagos are today most closely associated with Darwin.

" I never dreamed that islands, about fifty or sixty miles apart, and most of them in sight of each other, formed of precisely the same rocks, placed under a quite similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently tenanted."
- Charles Darwin

View Past Lobster Updates:
» PERU
» HONDURAS
» COSTA RICA
» GUATEMALA TO BELIZE
» LAGO DE ATITLAN, GUATEMALA
» PALENQUE TO GUATEMALA HOT SPRINGS
» CHRISTMAS IN OAXACA, MEXICO
» MEXICO: TAXCO AND BEACHES
» MEXICO CITY TO THE SILVER CAPITAL

The famous Blue Footed Booby

Everybody's favorite animal was the humorous Blue Footed Booby. It got it's name from the Spanish word "bobo" which means clown, due to their bright blue feet (no one knows why they have them) and the silly little mating dance they are famous for...they start with the male whistling and the female honking which starts the courtship dance of slow, deliberate leg lifts and "sky-pointing" with their beaks. They offer twigs then make their nest out in the open (usually right in the middle of the trail). They take turns sitting on the nest. The babies grow fast and can look bigger than their parents with such a thick fluffy coat of white down.

These colorful crabs were striking with their vermilion armor against the black lava rocks. It will "spit" from it's eye to release saltwater that is absorbed through it's exoskeleton. This is just an awesome picture Brian took with our macro lens.

Sally Light-Foot Crab

The Great Seal Race

Our students from BROADREACH took some time to play games while on shore. This was the result of the Great Seal Race...(p.s. there are no seals at the Galapagos. It was a more challenging game

A VISIT FROM DANNY GLOVER!!

In 1793 a post office barrel was put up on the island of Floreana to facilitate delivery to the United States and Europe. Today, there continues a travelers tradition to write a postcard and leave it in the box. Another traveler will stop by and look through the mail and find a postcard with an address near them and they take it back to the states to either hand deliver or mail it to the recipient. Our student, Angela Berry, from Greensboro, NC, had Danny Glover PERSONALLY deliver her postcard to her aunt!!

Cody and Jesse reading mail at Post Office Bay

The Galapagos Marine Iguana

The Galapagos Marine Iguana is another peculiar example of evolution at work. These vegetarian lizards moved away from the dwindling land vegetation and adapted to swimming off shore to eat the algae on the lava rocks. You also had to be carefull where you walked since there were so many lounging in the sun.

Galapagos National Park Rules

Each island can only be visited accompanied by a qualified guide approved by the National Park. The respective group has to stay together as a group for the whole visit.
The visit on the islands is only allowed between 6 and 18 hours.
The walks on the islands are only permitted on the clearly marked trails.
The visitors are not allowed to leave these trails.
Don't make a Galápagos collection. It is not allowed to collect any stones, sand, shells, corals, bones, feathers nor plants, seeds or any other natural objects.
Strictly forbidden is to touch, to feed, to disturb or chase animals. The visitor should always remain in a respectful distance to the animals.
Shoes and clothes should be cleaned after each visit of an island to not spread seeds and microorganism from island to island.
It is not allowed to eat and to smoke on the islands!
Of course its not allowed to let back on the island any garbage or to throw anything over board (for example cigarette-butts).
Photographers: please don't use flash for close-ups of animals!
During snorkeling, please don't stand on rocks and corals and don't touch anything under water!
Avoid snorkeling close to a male sea lion who is protecting his territory.
Graffiti's and love letters are not to be written on rocks, cactus or trees!
Do not buy souvenirs or objects made from plants or animals of the islands.