Live from the Flora, 10-night Ecuador and Galapagos Adventure, Dec 8-18

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Gardenbunny50 said:

The Mickey cactus was so funny 😂.  Great spot!! You need to send that to Disney LOL.  

So amazing all the wildlife you are seeing.  And I really like the pictures looking out to Flora.  Seems so peaceful in the isolation and solitude - is it quiet or do the birds make some noise?

We haven’t been to a stop yet where there have been a lot of birds congregating together … yet. But we could definitely hear them when we were walking on the trails today if a mockingbird or finch had something to say.
 

So far the sea lions have made the loudest sounds, especially the larger males when we start heading in their direction.  😂

[Kandtcruisers]

As a fellow birder, I love your pics and identifications ( except the pigeons. ;)). Thank you.  

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, Kandtcruisers said:

As a fellow birder, I love your pics and identifications ( except the pigeons. ;)). Thank you.  

Thanks! The thing about me and pigeons is this. You may have noticed in my below signature I like to do Live From threads when we’re on a cruise, which is quite often especially since cruising started back up. I also love taking pictures of wildlife, big or tiny.
 

However, in some locations the only wildlife we see, besides those cute little insects, are pigeons, and to be honest who really pays that much attention to pigeons and insects when you’re on a cruise. So to try to make my Live From thread picture taking more enjoyable at every stop, I’m always on the “hunt” for pigeons and sometimes insects and try to name them accordingly. However, a pigeon is just a pigeon, right? 😂
 

What has amazed me since starting this trend is that while looking for any “elusive pigeons” (or doves), it helps me focus on taking pictures of all kinds of wildlife, big or small, that we might see on our cruising adventures. For us we’re cruiseaholics and searching for the elusive pigeons just makes it all that more enjoyable. 😁

[DaKahuna]

Not to mention mooring lines and bollards. 

 

 

[Gardenbunny50]

I can relate…I am a flower gardener.  So I will take photos of interesting flowers and foliage on my travels!  I ooooed and aaaahed over those catcus blooms you posted.  Beautiful

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 5 - Dec 12 (Tuesday) Elizabeth Bay and Tagus Cove on Isabela Island

 

 

In the morning we did an awesome 1-hour zodiac ride around Elizabeth Bay.

 

 
It wasn’t long before we came upon these 2 Black Sea Turtles getting a little frisky.

 

 
Then came the Galapagos Penguins, which by the way were quite plentiful as you will see, with a Brown Pelican flying overhead! 
 

 

 

 
Here were 2 cormorants (I think) just enjoying the weather like we were on this beautiful morning in the high 70s. 😁

 

 
This is a Blue-footed Booby diving for breakfast! 

 

and then off it went to find a place to perch

 

 
and ponder its next target area! 😂

 

 
Frigatebird flying overhead

 

Galapagos Sea Lion

 

 
More penguins swimming around with a Blue-footed Booby doing a little grooming. All totaled it seemed like we saw at least 50 or more penguins swimming around in the different areas of Elizabeth Bay we visited.

 

 
And not to be forgotten, there were also a few flies that stopped by to say hi every now and then! 😂

 

 
A Blue-footed Booby probably heading to its next feeding area.

 

 
A young “juvenile” Brown Pelican

 

 
More Galapagos penguins

 

 
Then it was time to head into the mangrove area to see what’s hanging out in there.

 

 
Lava Heron

 

 
Sally Lightfoot Crabs

 

 
A Galapagos Mockingbird keeping its distance up in the tree.

 

 
Galapagos Sea Lion

 

 
Lava Heron heading over to find a good spot to watch for something to eat.

 

 
And to our surprise, we weren’t alone! 😱

 

 

 
The water always seems so amazingly clear here in the Galapagos!

 

 
What I found interesting about these next two Brown Pelicans is that the first one appears to have a white head while the second one has a brown head. I wonder why that is? Maybe the first one is an older adult while the second one is still in its young good looking stage. 🤔

 

 

 
Another bunch of Sally Lightfoot Crabs

 

 
A couple of Blue-footed Boobys and 2 penguins swimming in the background

 

 
A Flightless Cormorant and a Lava Heron on the rocks to the right of it.

 

 
Flightless Cormorant  

 

 
A couple of Frigatebirds having fun flying around

 

 

 
Once we got back and went out on our cabin balcony, these two Brown Pelicans were slowly cruising by.

 

 
BTW I took over 400 phots this morning and these were the ones that made it to the finals! 😂

Edited December 12, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[prmssk]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What I found interesting about these next two Brown Pelicans is that the first one appears to have a white head while the second one has a brown head. I wonder why that is? Maybe the first one is an older adult while the second one is still in its young good looking stage. 🤔

Those with brown heads are still immature.  Those with white heads (sometimes with some pretty yellow) are adults.

[Ken the cruiser]

For those that might be interested in an alternative to the lunch buffet in the main dining room (which has a different ethnic theme each day), here is the menu for the Ocean Grill and Bar up on Deck 7. My DW also tried their hot chocolate and it got her stamp of approval.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

While we had lunch, they moved the Flora to Tagus Cove.

 

 

Our 1-hour afternoon tender ride consisted of a zodiac cruise along the cliffs of Tagus Cove, which was just as awesome as our morning adventure, but in an entirely different way as you will see. 
 

This time we were greeted by a couple of sea lions playing in the water.

 

 

We initially cruised to the far end of the cliffs and worked our way back. Our first stop was a Blue-footed Booby hangout! 😁

 

 

 

 

 

Brown Noddy Terns

 

 

Brown Pelican and a Blue-footed Booby hanging out together

 

 

Galapagos Marine Iguana

 

 

Here is a threesome made up of a Pelican, Booby, and a Tern.

 

 

 

Peek-a-boo! A sea lion just popped up from behind the rocks when we arrived.

 

 

Brown Noddy Tern heading simewhere

 

 

Sea lion, Wingless Cormorant, and a Brown Noddy Tern

 

 

A couple of Wingless Cormorants enjoying a quiet moment together.

 

 

Can you find the “round” starfish amongst the barnacles? 😁

 

 

We had a visitor in the form of a sea lion pop up as we were cruising along as well!

 

 

Male and female marine iguanas.

 

 

Any every once in a while, a Blue-footed Booby would fly overhead, probably on the way to their group hangout.

 

An adult Brown Pelican

 

  

Then we came upon this group of marine iguanas.

 

 
with a Galapagos Penguin hoping the didn’t see him.

 

 
One of the 5 volcanos in the Galapagos

 

 
I just wanted to point out our water shoes are doing fantastic, and highly recommend getting a pair if you decide to come to the Galapagos!

 

 

Galapagos sea lion taking a nap

 

 

Wingless cormorant.

 

 
And then to top it off, we got to see some more Galapagos Penguins! 😁

 

 

 
Before heading back to the ship with a Brown Pelican waving goodbye! 

 

 
Then it was back to the cabin to enjoy another beautiful sunset! 😁

 

Only took 493 photos on the afternoon excursion! 😂

Edited December 13, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Gardenbunny50]

Running out of adjectives to describe the spectacular photos!  Favs for me were penquins, sea lion pup floating along with the zodiak, blue booby hangout and that gorgeous sunset.

It will be sad to not have any posts to look forward to when your trip is done.

Hopefully upcoming Galapagos cruisers will post.  And anyone doing the Machu Picchu extensive would be extra special 😉

[Gardenbunny50]

P.S.  and the pop up sea lion 😁

[Barwick Cruiser]

Totally agree with garden bunny…enjoying the pics and very happy that you’re able to separate the individual photos and add the caption with details. Job well done and much appreciated! 
Cathy

[Ken the cruiser]

40 minutes ago, Gardenbunny50 said:

Running out of adjectives to describe the spectacular photos!  Favs for me were penquins, sea lion pup floating along with the zodiak, blue booby hangout and that gorgeous sunset.

It will be sad to not have any posts to look forward to when your trip is done.

Hopefully upcoming Galapagos cruisers will post.  And anyone doing the Machu Picchu extensive would be extra special 😉

FWIW our next cruise will be a 30-day B2B starting in mid January to South America which will include 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula along with seeing a bunch of wildlife in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands! 😁

[mahdnc]

You're going to need your own Cruise Critic forum....

[Gardenbunny50]

19 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

FWIW our next cruise will be a 30-day B2B starting in mid January to South America which will include 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula along with seeing a bunch of wildlife in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands! 😁

We did that same cruise with Princess in January/February 2020, plus a Cosmos 10 day land tour from Rio to Buenos Aires before the cruise with 3 days at Iguasu Falls.  Got home Feb 7 just as Covid was starting to become a pandemic!  

I am thinking this Galapagos trip will be on same par with Antarctica.

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, Gardenbunny50 said:

We did that same cruise with Princess in January/February 2020, plus a Cosmos 10 day land tour from Rio to Buenos Aires before the cruise with 3 days at Iguasu Falls.  Got home Feb 7 just as Covid was starting to become a pandemic!  

I am thinking this Galapagos trip will be on same par with Antarctica.

We will be on the Sapphire Princess in an aft-facing cabin which hopefully will enhance our viewing options of both the wildlife and the beautiful scenery down there. 😁

[vickykay]

Ken, your photos continue to be absolutely amazing!  I am also a bird fan so I am really enjoying all the pictures.  My favorite are penguins so will be certainly be looking forward to your next cruise! 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 5 - Dec 13 (Wednesday) - Sullivan Bay (Santiago Island) and Bartolome Island

 
I guess we won’t be moving positions during lunch today as Sullivan Bay is off our starboard bow and Bartolome Island is off our port side.
 

  

 
Look who is parked next to us, the Xpedition, as their morning stop is at Bartolome Island before heading to Santa Cruz Island for their afternoon stop.
 

 
Today, we’re going on 2 long walks. There were options that included tendering, but “strolling” through the lava fields and walking to the top of a mountain sounded like more fun after tendering on both excursions yesterday. 😁

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Gardenbunny50]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We will be on the Sapphire Princess in an aft-facing cabin which hopefully will enhance our viewing options of both the wildlife and the beautiful scenery down there. 😁

We were on Coral Princess.  We had a balcony on the side.  But Capt McBain was excellent.  I am sure it will be the same but they rotate the ship inside the peninsula at each area so each side of ship gets all the views.  It is incredibly quiet.  Our commentator was very good.  They broadcast on cabin TV so we turned it up very loud, put on coats, hats, gloves and would go out on the balcony…come back in to warm up a bit and go back out!  There were very hardy people who would stay up on front of ship each day.  

 

[Gardenbunny50]

1 hour ago, vickykay said:

Ken, your photos continue to be absolutely amazing!  I am also a bird fan so I am really enjoying all the pictures.  My favorite are penguins so will be certainly be looking forward to your next cruise! 

I totally fell in love with the Antarctica penquins!  They are so cute riding along on the icebergs.  And one thing I learned that I never knew, they “porpoise” in the water  as they swim along.  You can look over side of ship and see them moving along up and down, up and down like a dolphin.  

P.S.  Good binoculars are a must.

[prmssk]

59 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Today, we’re going on 2 long walks. There were options that included tendering, but “strolling” through the lava fields and walking to the top of a mountain sounded like more fun after tendering on both excursions yesterday. 😁

You won't regret the climb to the summit of Bartolome.  

 

We skipped the lava rock walk and did the zodiac ride instead but didn't see a lot of wildlife so I kind of wish we had chosen the walk at Sullivan Bay.  I look forward to seeing your photos.

[raudacruise]

Does the ship rock much when anchored overnight?  Considering Galapagos but worried about getting seasick on a small ship. 🤢

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, raudacruise said:

Does the ship rock much when anchored overnight?  Considering Galapagos but worried about getting seasick on a small ship. 🤢

 

We were on Xpedition last month which was a smaller ship.  It rolled a lot at night while we were anchored.  Actually it rolled a lot day or night.

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by mahdnc

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, raudacruise said:

Does the ship rock much when anchored overnight?  Considering Galapagos but worried about getting seasick on a small ship. 🤢

I agree with @mahdnc that the Xpedition rolls a lot, especially while anchored but I'm really curious on what @Ken the cruiser has to say about the Flora.  The Flora has different technology that I believe allows it to stay in place without an actual anchor.  Plus, it likely has a lot better stabilization.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, raudacruise said:

Does the ship rock much when anchored overnight?  Considering Galapagos but worried about getting seasick on a small ship. 🤢

A don’t believe we will be anchored overnight at any of the afternoon locations on this itinerary. So far there has been a very gentle “rolling” when moving overnight to the next stop which pretty much puts us to sleep in about 3-5 minutes! 😁
 

But at the same time, the weather has been great. Just a heads up, though. The rainy season here is between January and March and it starts getting hot here after that. Both of our cruises here have been in late November (8 years ago) and now in early December and we’ve had no issues with the weather (or waves) either time.

 

BTW as I’m sitting on my balcony typing this, here is my view of the Xpedition. Right now it’s about 11:55 pm, so they show be heading shortly to their next stop.

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Ken the cruiser