Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Dear friends and family,
Well, it has been about four days since the last post and the Galapagos part of the journey is about to end -- after we see the giant tortoises tomorrow. We spent four days on the Tip Top III traveling (by boat, motoring through the night to different islands) the Galapagos which is about 600 miles off mainland Ecuador. I think i have used about four 2-gig memory cards so far -- really way too many pictures but the scenes were really too good to pass up. Yes, i will have to do a bit of editing when i get home so viewers will not be tortured by the amount of pictures.
Okay, to answer a few questions that have come in: Adam, i did get to stand with one foot on either side of the equator in Quito, Ecuador -- one in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere at 0.00.00 degree latitude. (The equator also runs through the Galapagos as well.) Hey, and while we were there, you grandkids might like to know, we visited a replica of an Indian village of the people who live in the jungle and used to be headhunters, and i took a couple pictures of a shrunken head that was on display. It was about the size of a baseball. I even took pictures of the recipe for doing up a head. It is a bit gruesome. And Joan, i am traveling with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) so it is a planned tour, and yes, the Andes are stunning, raw high peaks with broad vistas. I really felt connected with the earth when i was there.
Johnny and Suzanne, it was good to hear from the both of you. I trust you all are busy getting ready for Christmas and your kids are all excited. I'm glad to hear that you all are well and i look forward to seeeing all yopu kids and the grandkids soon!!.
Okay, back to the Galapagos and some favorite things: the stunning turquoise water everywhere; snorkeling the high cliffs of the Devil's Crown (an old volcano that long ago erupted and is sinking back into the sea and all that is left are the jagged cliffs of the round walls surrounded by the sea and with the sea running inside); snorkeling elsewhere with the many fishes and sea lions coming up to check you out; the blue footed boobies who are so unafraid of man (as are all other animals) they nest right on the trails where you walk and you can take pictures right down on top of them; pelicans diving from the high cliffs; the pink of flamingos; the iguanas lying on lava facing the sun as if in silent worship to a reptilian deity; Darwin's finches and mockingbirds that helped him formulate his theories of natural selection and evolution (by the way some mockingbirds came and sat on my hand begging for a drink from my water bottle but my guide said no, no); the Sally light-foot crabs that look like they went to a beauty parlor for all the brightest shades of red, orange, and yellow; the red-eyed oyster catcher who borrowed paint from the sally light-foots to paint a bright red ring around his eyes; the two Galapagos hawks that came and sat on the cliff with me (about two meters away) so i could take their pictures; visiting the cave where the Wittmer's (from Germany) and lived for a while back in the early 1900's till they could build a house (and she was pregnant at the time while living in this sinkhole of a cave) and yes in total, the Galapagos is a very desolate and forbidding place as well as beautiful in a bleak way; the mother sea lion on the beach with her placenta nearby nudging her dead newborn baby in hopes it would stir; the baby albatross nesting near the edge of the cliff waiting for his day to soar off the cliff and live on and above the sea for years to come, his neck feather curls blowing in the wind; and again the beautiful and alluring turquoise waters surrounding everything.
Well, i have just touched on only a few of the scenes of the Galapagos that caught my attention. More will be shared later when i can get some of these pictures (and my earlier ones) edited and put together in an album.This has been a good trip, to travel from Macchu Piccu and the stunning man made (Inca) ruins to the equally stunning natural beauty of the Galapagos -- both very spiritual places.
Love to all!