Galapagos, 2017

A Blue-Footed Booby looking charmingly confused as always.

Galapagos … no trip is every long enough to this magical place.  I had to leave eventually, but at least I collected some great pictures of boobies and butts before I left J

I was aboard the Solitario Jorge (Lonesome George) catamaran for 8 days and 7 nights.  The boat was named after the last tortoise of his kind who is thought to have lived over 80 years without ever seeing a female of his species.  It is a tragic tale, so I won’t make a Tortoise Tinder “I like long walks on the beach …” joke, but I really wish I could.

A massive tortoise on a walk about.
I got into one of the shells of a deceased tortoise at a conservation center.
The shell can weigh over 100 pounds.
I now know why they move so slow!

The boat was tiny and could sleep only 15, but it was infested with amazing Australians, so it felt like a lively party twice that size most of the time. We toured 9 islands in a week, so there was a lot of sailing.  Most nights were on a roiling sea where some people rolled out of their beds, but I was suitably drugged to avoid all traces of seasickness.

Each day we had two ‘snorkel activities’ and two land-based nature walks.  The snorkeling was by far the best I have ever seen in my life.  One day I was surrounded by a pack of sea lion pups darting around trying to figure out how to play with a snorkler while a dozen giant sea turtles bobbed lazily from the shallow sandy sea floor to the glassy water above.  Meanwhile, PENGIUNS fired off the rocks above and shot like bullets through the water.  When you poked your head above water you were surrounded by cliff dwelling blue footed boobies … it was an amazing scene that I won’t soon forget.

My route over the 8-day sailing trip.

The hikes were fascinating as well.  The highlight for me was watching a mother sea lion return to a joyous pup who had been waiting for 2 days for his mother’s return.  There were countless iguanas wherever you looked, they were most impressive when swimming though, their tail swishes back and forth and they look like little Godzillas attacking the crab filled beaches.

There were nets at the front of the catamaran
where you could lounge with the cool kids
when the seas were not too rough.

Darwin formulated his theory of evolution when visiting these islands some 200 years ago.  I thought I might get some inkling to how he put this masterpiece of modern thought together by going to the same islands as him.  Instead, I just saw just pretty birds and sunsets.  In my defense, I was on a boat full of girls in bikinis, so I was likely more distracted than Darwin on his 5 year sailing trip full of smelly dudes J

I’m now in Peru and will hike around Machu Pichu for the next week or so.  After that, I’m off to Columbia to go kite surfing near Cabo de la Vela.

Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you soon!

-Chulo-Tastic T!

Lonesome George

It is hard to believe my feet are this sexy.

A Booby with her chick chirping below.

A magical cave where we snorkeled in neon turquoise water.

One passenger had a hole in her wetsuit on her keister.  After 5 days of resisting, I could fight the urge of poking no longer.  Turns out that getting slapped under water is not that painful J

Each island was totally different, but beautiful in its own rugged way.

6am snorkeling on glassy water with a Galapagos Shark circling below.

You're still here? It's over. Go home. – Booby Buehler