Live from... Silver Origin. Sept. 16-23, 2023

[twangster]

Almost time for breakfast.  Time to head downstairs.

 

 

[twangster]

Today consists of zodiac tours morning and afternoon with a deep water snorkel in between.

 

When I first heard that we would only see the Galapagos today by zodiac without stepping foot on land I thought it would be some rocks and birds flying around.  I was so wrong.   

 

It's hard for me to whittle down the pictures from our first zodiac tour so here is a photo dump from the morning session.

 

 

 

Another group from our ship.

 

 

 

Galapagos Pelican

 

 

 

 

 

Sea Lions pups love attention and throughout this morning they are constantly trying to steal the show.  "Look at me!"

 

 

 

 

Sally Light Foot Crab.

 

 

[twangster]

Look at those blue feet!

 

 

From a distance it's a lava rock.  A little closer and it's alive.

 

 

Marine Iguanas are everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Flightless Cormorant.

 

 

 

"Over here!  I'm right here!  Look at me!"

 

[twangster]

Our guides points and says... Penguins!

 

 

There are two flightless birds in the Galapagos.  The Flightless Cormorant and the Galapagos Penguin.

 

 

 

 

 

The American Oystercatcher.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Our guide points out a Galapagos Hawk in the trees.

 

 

And then a Sea Turtle pops up for a breath.

 

 

 

 

Crab!

 

 

Back to the Hawk.

 

 

Wait... another Hawk arrived.

 

 

 

 

There is wildlife in every direction.

 

"Hey, over here!  Forget those birds!  I'm right here!  Look at me!

 

 

 

[twangster]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out those blue eyes.

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

I've got to take a break from posting the morning session.   An excursion is departing.   Back in a bit.  

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

I've got to take a break from posting the morning session.   An excursion is departing.   Back in a bit.  

 

It is definitely a challenge to write and publish such detailed posts while simultaneously doing all of these excursions. Kudos on your great posts so far! Keep having fun and we look forward to following along.

[heffy2]

Thank you SO much for the incredible pictures!! What kind of camera are you using?

[twangster]

Finishing up with a few last photos of our new best friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

With that we had to say goodbye and head back to our Origin.

 

 

And to think I was anticipating a boring zodiac run down the coast see nothing but rocks and waves.  It was anything but that.  It was a pretty amazing excursion.

 

 

[twangster]

After a short break it was snorkel time.

 

 

Today the water was noticeably cooler being where we were on the Western end of the island chain and the Cromwell current that brings nutrient rich cold water up from the floor of the sea to the West.

 

 

 

 

Eventually we came along some Penguins on the shore.  

 

 

 

 

Despite our best wishes they stayed on the lava.

 

 

That's okay because apparently we had been ignoring the playful Sea Lion pups who swam in to steal the show.

 

 

We weren't  giving it enough attention so it made a point of swimming right up into our face several times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

The thermoclines were very strong and at times it was like someone smeared vaseline on the mask the water was so distorted.  This made picture taking a challenge.  Despite this it was a very enjoyable snorkel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 45 minutes it time to leave our snorkel buddy pups in the sea and return to the ship.

 

 

 

 

There is nothing like coming back to warm bathrobes...

 

 

... and hot Ecuadorian chocolate waiting for you.

 

 

[registrar]

WOW 🤩 WOW and WOW again!!!!!

You have sold me on going to the Galápagos!

Your pictures are Fantastic!

[twangster]

After snorkeling it's lunch!

 

 

I have a little time before the afternoon zodiac tour so I enjoyed the magnificent views as we slowly sailed to our next stop.

 

 

 

 

Out here on the Western end of the island chain the volcanoes are not dormant.  Compared to the islands that have slid to the East these islands still look the part from their volcanic origin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given that we are at the Equator basically, note the shadow from table.  It's almost straight down. 

 

[cruiseej]

Thank you for your detailed cruise report, and the fantastic photos. We're doing this cruise next July, so I'm trying to soak in all the details!

 

With all the activities from sunrise to night, I don't know how you find time to download phots, edit them, select what to post, and write about it… amazing job.

 

When you have a moment — it can wait until the end of the cruise — I'd love to know about your photo gear. It looked like maybe a Nikon in the one shot of you. What lenses do you have? Do you have an underwater camera or an enclosure for your SLR? 

 

 

[twangster]

3 hours ago, cruiseej said:

When you have a moment — it can wait until the end of the cruise — I'd love to know about your photo gear. It looked like maybe a Nikon in the one shot of you. What lenses do you have? Do you have an underwater camera or an enclosure for your SLR? 

 

My kit for this trip is a Sony A7R4 with three lens.  The 70-300mm has shot the bulk of the photos so far.  The 14mm f1.8 was used for the Milky Way shot and some other wide angle shots.  The 24 - 105mm f4 is usually my go to travel lens but I wanted something with some extra reach for this trip.  So while I brought the 24-105mm I have not used it that much, instead I carry a Sony RX100M6 for portability when I need something wider than the 70-300mm offers. 

 

I could probably do the whole trip with the RX100M6 but it's a little cumbersome changing things like EV and manual focus.  I have both a 200-600mm and a 60-600mm but with a full frame body those lens are so heavy I left them at home, instead leveraging the extra resolution of the A7R4 to crop which effectively turns the 70-300mm into a longer lens as long as I pay close attention to focus.   

 

The thing is I didn't want to be carrying extra lens around in the field so the 70-300mm is my workhorse and the RX100M6 is in my right front pocket for when I need a wide angle shot.  Weight was a big factor considering the weight limits for LATAM from the mainland to the Galapagos.

 

The funny thing about my water photos is that I couldn't find the factory battery door for my GoPro having replaced it with one that allows an external battery for long mountain bike rides.  That alternate door isn't watertight.  When I couldn't find my factory battery door combined with the weight limits I've come very close to exceeding I decided to leave the GoPro at home and I'm using a waterphone case for my phone as my water camera.  That's been a PITA since it's so hard to control a touchscreen device underwater in a phone case, it's really been a pain, but something had to give without going way over my weight limits.  

 

My Samsung S22U phone has been used to fill at various times and for shooting menus but I'm not a fan of it's color profile - it really over emphasizes blues when outdoor.  

 

What I should have done is bought a waterproof housing for the RX100M6 and left the 24-105 at home to manage the weight budget.  

[commodore2010]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do these posts.  We are on the Sept 30th cruise. I believe it is the same itin. as yours.  Couple questions.  1) I noticed people wearing wet suits for snokeling. Are they provided by Silversea?  2) We have been on expedition cruises before and dress code was casual. What are people wearing in the dining room?  Our first sailing on Silversea. 

[twangster]

The afternoon zodiac tour was another boring event with nothing but sun and water.  NOT!!!

 

You be the judge of this excursion.

 

We start exploring the coast where we see cactus unlike we have seen so far at our other stops.  

 

 

The volcanic hills in distance are a constant backdrop for this tour.

 

 

 

It isn't long until the zodiac captains find us some wildlife to see.

 

 

Penguins!

 

 

And of course Marine Iguanas.

 

 

But let's face it, Penguins are a lot cuter.

 

 

The markings on their chest are unique to each individual like a fingerprint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Beware I'm about to go overboard with Penguin pictures! 

 

 

 

 

 

How often will I chance like this to be so close to true wildlife?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Next we boat off to a sheltered lagoon in search of something different.

 

 

 

It doesn't take long until we find something other than Penguins and Iguanas. 

 

 

The Lava Heron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But wait, there's more.

[twangster]

This is were good polarizing sunglasses come in handy as they take the glare off the surface of the water allowing you see more clearly below the surface.

 

 

 

The sheltered water of this lagoon was teaming with rays and even some small sharks.

 

 

The wingtips of the rays were occasionally breaking the surface.

 

 

 

 

It was pretty magical.

 

[twangster]

Our guide reported they found something else when they scouted the area earlier.

 

 

It was the nest of the Great Blue Heron.

 

 

The parents were off finding food leaving these little chicks on their own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were pretty well camouflaged. 

 

 

 

[twangster]

With a pretty great zodiac tour behind us it was time to head back to our Origin.

 

[twangster]

I sensed a magical sunset tonight so I headed up top to see what I could capture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight the ship was hosting a "Sunset Fun-Fest" at 5:30pm. 

 

The Captain arranged perfect weather and the Hotel Director had the Chef prepare some wonderful small bites to eat.

 

 

 

Have I mentioned the Silver Origin is a perfect ship for the Galapagos Islands?