One of the most magnificent places I have been is the Galapagos Islands.  Six hundred miles west of the coast of Ecuador, these islands hold treasures of nature seen nowhere else.

The feelings of peace and serenity wash over me seeing this beautiful landscape.

The vegetation is unusual and very special.

I think the lava gulls were enjoying the scenery as well.

Imagine the feeling of calmness in this setting.

Every island, of course, needs someone in authority.

Our walks on the island are always guided by licensed naturalists, trained by the government of Ecuador.  They tell us interesting facts about the flora and fauna and make the tour very enjoyable.

And we are left with images like this.

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Girl with her pet, in Cusco, Peru

Details of the itinerary and the cost are on this page….

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Sea lions on a break

We also were greeted by marine iguanas

Marine iguanas

But most surprising was the blue footed booby welcoming committee. About every 10 feet, there was a couple of blue footed boobies standing along the trail. It was as if someone had placed them at their posts. Here they are:

Blue footed booby welcoming committee

Another couple

And another

The big treat, though, was to see the albatrosses. In June, they were everywhere. In January, there had been only one or two sighted. So here is one, up close and personal:

An Albatross

Even closer

Of course, once again we saw the Nazca boobies, really beautiful white birds.

Nazca boobies

Unfortunately, our visit to the Galapagos had to come to an end, but next is a glimpse at Lima, Peru!

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Great Blue Heron

This bird has to be one of the most magnificent sights I have ever seen. And, like the other Galapagos birds and creatures, he was not frightened by the humans and held still for a good number of pictures.

Cactus trees

Lava Lizard

Another amazing critter!

Nazca or Masked Booby

The Nazca Boobies are very beautiful and what is even more exquisite is a very young Nazca Booby. They are fluffy and white. Here’s a mother and her baby.

Nazca Booby and baby

Flamingo

In certain light, it seems as if the endemic flamingos glow. They do not. They get their beautiful color from the sea animals that they eat.

A cooperative Blue Footed Booby

And yes, that is really the way they look. They tell me that it really attracts the girls (girl boobies, that is) which is a good thing.

What you can’t possibly imagine is how completely amazing this place is and how right the world seems with this beautiful life just living and thriving in a tranquil landscape.

And once again,

The Land Iguana smiles in approval

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Swallow Tailed Gull

I was very excited about the prospect of seeing blue-footed boobies. Even having seen a number, they still fascinate me. This is a picture of the first one we saw. He/she didn’t feel like cooperating with us, but at least didn’t fly away.

Uncooperative blue-footed booby

We saw this very beautiful bird.

Yellow Warbler (Canario Maria)

A frigate bird

Frigates are completely black as they fly through the sky. They look almost the way you would expect ominous black birds to look, except watching them fly was just beautiful. However, when they want to impress each other ( and particularly the female of the species) they can puff out a sac that is bright red (and actually, quite impressive.) Unfortunately, I didn’t get any good pictures, but you can see some magnificent pictures of magnificent frigates here.

I tried to identify the next bird with my handy-dandy identification guide. Unfortunately, the birds in my pictures are never in the same position as they are in the guide, and so I am just guessing that this incredibly gorgeous bird is a Royal Albatross.

Royal Albatross (?)

A land iguana

These guys always smile. I know that they must just be the happiest characters.

And no island trip is complete if one doesn’t have a chance to see sea lions. This time it was a nursing mother and her nursling.

Sea lion baby snack time

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Bachas Beach

In the background you can see our ship, but otherwise, it was only we and nature. Bachas Beach got its name from a mispronunciation of the word “barges” as during World War II, US ships docked there in an effort to protect the Panama Canal.

As we walked onto the beach, I was overwhelmed with the peace and the natural beauty of the place, but looking further, it became clear to me that the island was full of life. Do you see it?

Life on the Island?

If you look carefully at the two pictures, you may be able to see some very small red/orange objects. They are Sally Lightfoot crabs. These crabs are strikingly beautiful. And they are everywhere. The entire rocky coastline is alive and moving!

A Sally Lightfoot Crab

Taking a walk

Up close

Here I was, on the fifth day of creation. I couldn’t believe it. The crabs did not shy away from the camera, nor did the Lava Gulls, who posed for pictures.

Lava Gulls

The Galapagos Islands are all about seeing and listening, and not so much about speech. In fact, one of the things I loved the most were the long silences when no one was speaking and when I was alone in this magnificent natural environment.

Lava Gull

We saw some other creatures too. Here are two of them:

Greater Flamingos

At first they were shy, but once they noticed that we were silent, they stopped hiding.

Our Flamingo Friends

And who was there to say goodbye once our magnificent visit came to an end?

Sea Lion

More fabulous creatures to come….

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We have arrived!

Our visit there was fascinating as we saw species of plants and animals that we had never seen before. One of the animals we came to know and love was the land iguana, a reptile so clever that it has learned how to eat cactus pads and get not only fluids from them in the dry season, but food value from them as well. Land iguanas vary from island to island in the Galapagos. They can grow to be as much as three to five feet long! Here is a land iguana eating a cactus pad.

Land iguana at lunch

The major concentration at the Darwin station is the giant land tortoises. They too vary from Island to island with different shapes of shells and other remarkable differences. At the Darwin Station, scientists are concerned with preserving all of the existing species. There is, unfortunately one tortoise who is partnerless… Lonesome George is the last known existing tortoise of his kind. He was identified on Pinta Island and was brought to the breeding station in 1972. Since then he has waited in vain for a female Pinta Island tortoise. You can read more about him here.

We enjoyed seeing these enormous tortoises. Unlike what was permitted in the Galapagos Islands years ago, people are not allowed to ride on the tortoises. In fact, we are not permitted to touch them. The government of Ecuador takes very seriously the importance of preserving these islands and their air, land, and sea inhabitants– But we can take pictures!

Wow!

My husband and his new pet

and here’s something I thought I would never see:

Up close and personal!

When our tour of the station was over, we were satisfied and happy. We got back to the boat for a delicious kosher dinner and a restful night’s sleep, lulled by the gentle waves of the Pacific. What a wonderful day!!

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Our luggage was inspected thoroughly before we got onto the plane. Because the Ecuadorians are concerned that the Galapagos Islands remain a living laboratory, as untainted as possible by civilization, there is always concern that people might be bringing things that will destroy the unique ecology of each of the islands. For that reason, no plants, or seeds can enter the islands. Similarly, when we travel from the Islands to the boat, the bottoms of our shoes are washed off before we enter the boat so that we will not transport seeds from one island to another.

We flew from Quito to Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city and then on to the Galapagos Islands. Before we landed, the interior of the plane was sprayed.

The first thing we saw when we landed at the airport in Baltra was this tree.

Galapagos cactus

We thought it looked unique. It seems to grow quite profusely in the Galapagos Islands.

The archipelago consists of 15 main islands, 3 smaller islands and over 100 rocks and outcroppings. Once we had claimed our luggage, we went by bus and ferry and bus to the ship’s landing in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is one of the 5 islands that are inhabited by humans.

Santa Cruz

From there we walked along the pier. I thought that we would see our ship, a small cruise ship that takes a maximum of 100 passengers.

The pier

It was raining and happily, it was the only rain we experienced during our visit there.

What I didn’t anticipate was our mode of transportation to the cruise ship and subsequently to each island. The islands are to remain unspoiled and so large ships do not dock near them, but stay removed from them so as not to pollute or to carry anything that might upset the ecology of the islands. So it was like this that we reached our ship.

The dinghies

And here is a picture of the ship

The Galapagos Legend

Once settled in, all of us were ready for our first big adventure. Late in the afternoon, we set out on our dinghies to visit the Darwin Research Station.

Imagine our surprise when we came upon a whole welcoming committee of marine iguanas who graciously posed for pictures!

Marine iguana

and friend

The Marine Iguana is the world’s only sea-going lizard and is found only on the Galapagos Islands. We found them fascinating. We almost forgot that they were not what we were there to see. The Darwin Station is most concerned with the giant tortoises. You’ll see them next time…

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And what a shabbat it was! First of all the flowers that filled the hotel put all of us in a good mood.

Roses

As shabbat neared, the women went to the dining room to light shabbat candles and shortly afterwards, the services started. The chanting and singing were lovely and in the short time we had been together, we had become a group.

More roses

After services, at dinner, we began to get acquainted with our guests, members of the Jewish community of Ecuador. Eating with us Friday night were the Israel consul to Ecuador and his wife and children. In addition, there were other Jews who lived in Quito and the vicinity. It was fascinating to hear about them and their backgrounds and why they were living in Quito and a little about life there.

Quito does indeed have a Jewish community. It numbers about 500 people and follows the Conservative stream of Judaism. There are some Orthodox Jews as well, but they comprise only a small fraction of the community. The community is dwindling with young people leaving the country for the US or Israel. There is a community center and a synagogue. There is also a Jewish school, the Albert Einstein school which is known for its excellent education. We were told that a majority of the students are not Jewish and are sent there because of the fine academic reputation the school possesses. The community has a store that sells Judaica, a mikvah, and the availability of kosher food. There is also a mohel (ritual circumcisor).

On Friday night and Saturday we enjoyed talking to the people who came to our hotel to join us for services and meals. We loved seeing the bright-eyed, beautiful children they brought with them– little children learning to speak Hebrew, English, and Spanish. I was not the only one who tried to encourage them to take the aliya plunge! After all, being a Jew in Ecuador is a bit like being a fish out of water. In Israel, they will be swimming along in a current of wonderful, refreshing, fresh water.

We were treated to talks by the Israel Ambassador and the Israel Consul to Ecuador and in addition, we met the local Chabad rabbi.

Yes, more roses

On shabbat afternoon we went to see a very beautiful ethnology museum. We enjoyed seeing the dress and artifacts and crafts of some of the peoples who have been living in Ecuador for centuries.

Our walk back to the hotel was pleasant and once shabbat was over, we were treated to a folkdance show put on especially for us in the hotel.

But all of us were very excited because we knew that bright and early on Sunday morning we would be getting up to start the adventure of a lifetime, a trip to the Galapagos!!!

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