Sunday, December 15, 2013

Galapagos Day One: Lizards, Love Birds and Lounging Sea Lions


Today was our first day in the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador in South America. We visited North Seymore Island, where we saw enormous iguanas. They were orange, brown, blue, green and black.  They lumbered about like steamrollers, and went everywhere!


We also saw crazy love birds, Frigates. The male Frigate puffs up a huge bulbous red neck and shakes it to attract lady Frigates. They make a noise sort of like Bongo Drums with their beaks and big red necks. The lady Frigates seemed to like this and flew around taunting the boys!



We also saw a lot of Sea Lions. Unlike Seals, Sea Lions are better adapted for living on land.  They have earflaps, longer stubby front arms, and a feet-y tail for moving around on land. They were snoozing everywhere – including lolling on lava pillows, which are volcanic rocks on the ground used by Sea Lions to sleep.

Here is a pup, probably 2 to 3 weeks old, sitting up on a lava pillow.



One last Sea Lion says hello to everyone reading my blog!


1 comment:

Jim and Elaine Barnett said...

What wonderful pictures and what a great description of it all. The picture of the sea lion pup is my favorite. The last time we were around sea loins they smelled awful. Did these stink? Thanks for taking the time to let us travel with you four. Keep having fun and sharing it all with us.

Post a Comment