Lava lizard, Isla Isabela

The best known reptiles of the Galápagos archipelago are the iguanas (particularly the marine iguanas) and the giant tortoises. But others live here too: the secretive Galápagos snake (which I was fortunate enough to see), sea turtles (which I was fortunate enough to snorkel with), and nine species of lizards in the genus Microlophus, which every visitor will be bound to see.  M. albemarlensis inhabits Isla Isabela, where I spent ten days, and Fernandina, inaccessible to those, like me, not on expensive cruises. Female lava lizards can be easily identified by the orange throat and face; males lack this but have a black throat patch.

I never did manage to discover whether the orange specks were seeds of some plant or, more probably, mites.


[10 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 45 mm, ISO 400, 1/250 at f8]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Sally lightfoot crab

While the death of Lonesome George consigned his subspecies to the oblivion of extinction (and don't try to tell me cloning might bring him back — it can't), not all Galápagos species are threatened with imminent extinction. These Sally lightfoot crabs (Grapsus grapsus) certainly seem to be thriving. On a grey day threatening rain, they added a delightful touch of colour to the lava rocks along the coast of Santa Cruz.


[6 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/250 at f8]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

This is what extinction looks like

Lonesome George has died. The last of his subspecies of giant Galápagos tortoise, he was thought to be about a hundred years old. I met him in September last year; by then his subspecies had long been doomed to extinction, but his death two days ago (24 June) saddens me nevertheless.


[7 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/200 at f8]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Hummingbird (sparkling violetear); el colibri

Sparkling violetears are probably the most commonly seen hummingbirds in Quito. At the aptly named Colibri cafe, these gorgeous little birds patrolled the foliage overhead — a delight, but nearly impossible to photograph against the bright sky. I never managed to get the fill flash on the GH1 to work properly, and the autofocus on Panasonic's lenses is shockingly slow and inaccurate. I longed for the 20D and the 300mm f4 L, but if I'd had that with me I'd probably have been too apprehensive to use it. This, with a lot of post-processing, was about as good as I could do. I'm reasonably happy with it, given the bird wasn't much bigger than my thumb.


[15 August 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 at f5.6]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Smooth-billed ani, Santa Cruz

Smoothbilled anis (Crotophaga ani) were apparently introduced to the Galápagos in the 1960s by farmers because they're known to glean ticks from cattle (Rosenberg et al. 1990). They're more wary and harder to approach than the animals that evolved on the islands; they're also considered a pest species because they compete with native birds, disperse weed seeds, and potentially transmit diseases that might affect native birds.


[7 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 at f5.6]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

Mangrove branch

Mangroves, despised by so many people, have a role along the world's coasts that can hardly be overestimated. I love them mostly because they provide homes for so many animals of such a diversity, and perhaps also because they're so resilient, so tough. Survivors that look after others.

[17 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 23 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 at f16]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Typical weather, southern Ecuador

In southern Ecuador rain seemed integral to the environment. I'd intended visiting Cajas and/or Podocarpus National Parks, but the prospect of walking all day in the rain and seeing little other than the inside of the cloud put me off. The short message: if you're visiting southern Ecuador, allow plenty of time. This is a telephoto shot from my hostel in Vilcabamba.

This seems so long ago now. Hard to believe it was just over a month ago.

[29 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/2000 at f8]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Blue-footed booby on the Tintoreras

The best view of a bluefooted booby in the Galápagos was on the Tintoreras, the small islets next to the wharf at Puerto Villamil on Isabela. No mistaking the identification here.

I'm now in Arequipa in the south of Peru; next stop Puno and Lake Titicaca. The Galápagos seem so long ago now, but I'll never forget them. 

[16 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 136 mm, ISO 400, 1/640 at f8]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Frigate bird, Puerto Ayora

Despite their size, frigate birds can jink and turn in an instant; if one decides it wants your fish, resistance is futile — you can't outfly it. This one at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz was one of a good number looking for scraps from a fisherman cleaning his catch.



[19 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 100 mm, ISO 400, 1/800 at f7.1]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Early morning, inside; Galápagos

Jumping back a few weeks — my room on Isabela, the largest island in the Galápagos archipelago (I love that word — "archipelago"). The room was actually partitioned, and I slept in the other area in a larger bed — with sheets. I wrote at the tiled bench in the kitchen area; I wrote in restaurants, I wrote at a little bar on the waterfront, I wrote wherever and whenever I could.

Now I'm in Peru, ready to leave Chachapoyas, which has proved far more interesting and enjoyable than I'd expected. I'd intended taking the notorious bus to Cajamarca, but having been over part of the road yesterday on the way to Kuelap, the desire to enjoy the landscape has waned a little — 12 hours on a winding, rough, slow road no longer seems so necessary. I'll take the night bus to Trujillo instead, despite my aversion to travelling at night when I can't see what I'm travelling through (and they're not as safe as the day journeys). Then on to Huaraz in the climbing and trekking paradise of the Cordillera Blanca.





[13 September 2011 [Ecuador], Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 400, 1/50 at f16]  

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Eared dove, Quito

Eared doves ( Zenaida auriculata) were one of the first birds I identified in Ecuador. Ubiquitous in Quito, they're widespread elsewhere too, and only in Cuenca did I notice they'd largely been replaced by fat feral pigeons. This was one of the few reasonable photos I managed; an eared dove outside my room at the Tutamanda hostel in Quito.

I'm in Peru now, at Chachapoyas. I left Vilcabamba early yesterday morning (Thursday), travelling by bus through a spectacular landscape to Zumba; in the back of a ute to La Balsa and the most informal, friendly border crossing I've ever had, from Ecuador to Peru. Then a wonderful hour and a half squeezed into a car with six others plus the driver and our luggage, to San Ignacio. On to Jaén for the night, then this morning to Bagua Grande and another fast colectivo ride through yet another spectacular, sere landscape to Chachapoyas. I'm now at the hostel Revash, heading for the Sarcófagos de Karajía tomorrow and the pre-inca ruins at Kuelap the next day.



[25 August 2011 [Ecuador], Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 at f5.6] 

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Orange-winged Amazon parrot (captive); Cuenca

At the avifauna centre next to the Inca ruins in Cuenca — a place intended to foster 'respect for the avifauna' — birds of several species including several species of Amazon Parrots, a White-fronted Toucan, Great Cowbird, Black-chested Buzzard Eagles, Scarlet Macaws, and the bird that captured my imagination so strongly as a child, the Blue and Yellow Macaw, survived in cages too small for a flight of more than a second or two. One Blue and Yellow Macaw clung motionless to the top of the cage it shared with several other macaws. To me it seemed as if that bird had the elsewhere stare I've seen in other caged animals — the look of an animal trying to survive by retreating into memories of freedom.

These are my projections, of course, but my friends were affected similarly. "How," one asked, "does this foster respect for the avifauna?"  Perhaps many visitors will be awed by these wonderful birds and go on to do great things for their conservation, but one has to wonder whether the good of the many outweighs the good of the few.

[Posting might be light for a while — all going well, I'll be in a fairly out-of-the-way part of Peru in a few days]



[26 September 2011 [Ecuador], Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 at f5.6]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Early morning in Cuenca

Cuenca's a lovely city, although the weather hasn't treated me particularly well during my short stay. Still, I'd happily have stayed longer, even if the rain kept me indoors — there's no shortage of comfortable cafes in which to sit and write. But Patagonia's still thousands of kilometres south, and I have to keep moving. I'll remember Cuenca fondly, though.

This is the view looking back into town from just outside my hostel. Almost everything you see is typical except the absence of cars and the presence of just one person. 



 
[25 September 2011 (Ecuador), Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 45 mm, ISO 400, 1/125 at f11] 

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Marine iguana, Isla Isabela, Galápagos

When I first saw marine iguanas at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, they struck me as much smaller than I'd expected. However, on arriving at Puerto Villamil on Isabela, I soon realised this perception wasn't right. On a walk at low tide along the rocky coast from the wharf back to town, I came across this massive iguana, notable not only for its size — a good metre long — but its lovely colours. I'd been charmed by the little iguanas on Santa Cruz, but for this one a word closer to "awestruck" seems more appropriate.



[13 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 234 mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 at f8]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Leaving the Galápagos

I flew with LAN Ecuador; the AeroGal flight left first, then the TAME flight. Then the announcement: because of an "operation" at Quito airport, our flight had been delayed three hours. Perhaps the Galápagos was as reluctant for me to leave as I was to leave the Galápagos. Still, the airport on Baltra isn't one of the Galápagos' most inspiring places, although even there the little finches seemed keen on sharing one's lunch (their success was evident in their scruffier, less healthy appearance — a probable consequence of too much scavenging salt-laden "food").

This won't be the last photo from the Galápagos. This blog makes no attempt to present photographs in strictly chronological order, so you can expect anything. I'm in Cuenca now — a lovely city where I wish I could stay longer.
 


 
[19 September 2011 (Ecuador), Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 45 mm, ISO 400, 1/1250 at f16]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Sea lions, Isla Isabela, Galápagos

Sea lions sure know how to relax. These had parked themselves on the wharf and barely bothered opening an eye when I walked carefully past.

By the time you see this, I should be approaching Cuenca, about eight hours by bus south of Quito. The long journey south will have begun.


[17 September 2011 (Ecuador), Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 171 mm, ISO 400, 1/160 at f11] 

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Ruddy turnstone, Isla Isabela, Galápagos

A good variety of shorebirds frequented the sandy beaches around Puerto Villamil. Ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) were one of the most obvious species, partly because of their distinctive plumage. Photographing them wasn't easy because they moved rapidly and almost continuously, pausing only for an instant. Fortunately, they'd sometimes venture close — but then the problem became keeping them framed and in focus.


 
[15 September 2011 , Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/4000 at f5.6] 

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

Flamingo, Isla Isabela, Galápagos

A lone American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) lived at the Poza Salinas on the outskirts of Puerto Villamil. Sometimes another would join it, and other flamingos patrolled other briny, muddy ponds nearby. Strange, unearthly birds, the colours and shape spectacular.




12 September 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/2000 at f8]  

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

The Tintoreras, Galápagos

The Tintoreras, named after the white-tipped sharks that lurk here, are a group of small islets just offshore from Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela. Hardly more than a reef, they provide habitat for abundant wildlife — everything from the sharks and sea turtles to penguins, marine iguanas, sea lions and the famous blue-footed boobies. Like most places in the Galápagos, visits are strictly regulated and walking on the islets is restricted to a well-defined loop path — not that the tempation's great to stray from it when much of the rest of the area looks like this. This is solidified A'A' lava; the white is lichen. Not all the Tintoreras is so forbidding, though: mangroves grow in some parts and small, sandy or pebbly beaches allow sea lions to haul out and increase the diversity of habitats.

On a two and a half hour tour here I took the plunge, literally, and snorkelled from the boat at the edge of a small islet. Although the water wasn't as cold as I'd feared, I couldn't stay in for long. Well worth it, though, especially the delight of swimming underwater with a sea turtle.
 


[15 September 2011 (Ecuador), Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 400, 1/640 at f8] 

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor

La Playita, Isabela Is., Galápagos

For most of you, by the time you see this I'll be on my way back to Quito. Right now as I schedule this for posting, I have a full day here on Isla Isabela then catch the ferry (speedboat) back to Santa Cruz early tomorrow morning. I fly out around midday on Monday, back to Quito for a few days. I have a few things I'd like to do in that area, then I start the long move south, a journey that I expect to last for the next three months.

But I'm still here now on Isabela in the Galápagos, a place that simultaneously feels utterly ancient and frighteningly young. Ancient because of the animals, the sea, the sky — all of which probably appeared similar millions of years ago; young because the landscape's volcanic and one can easily imagine some of these places forming just a few weeks ago. Those rocks beneath my shoes are blacker than they appear; much of the rock looks as if it solidified as it flowed into the sea (which was often the case). One of the volcanoes I visited a few days ago erupted in 2005, and will certainly erupt again, probably soon.




[16 September 2011 (Ecuador), Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 14 mm, ISO 200, 1/30 at f16]

All content © 2011 Pete McGregor