Galapagos Islands Impressions

Pictures from a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos offers unlimited photo opportunities, and I would like to share the amazing results.

Last updated: October 2021 Reading time: 2 minutes Category: Galleries

Afternoon Nap
After receiving some milk this seal puppy had to rest and decided to cuddle up to mummy.

Blue-Footed Booby
50% of the worldwide population of Blue-Footed Boobies resides on Galapagos. Their mating dance is exciting to watch, if you are lucky.

Booby Portrait
This portrait of a Blue-footed Booby is supposed to show in detail the beautiful markings and the blue bill.

Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican was hiding between rows of rocks, next to the sea, and I accidentially discovered it. This might perhaps explain its annoyed look.

Brown Pelican in Flight
These birds look really clumsy on land, but when they fly they are elegant and very impressive. In flight, they nearly touch the water surface.

Crater Lake Dandelion
This dandelion was one of the few usable images from the Laguna Quilotoa in Ecuador - is was too foggy on that specific day.

You may think you know a lot about the Galapagos Islands. My personal take is this: before you haven’t experienced it personally, you cannot really understand and appreciate what it is about. You are walking between animals that are not afraid of humans. You watch them from an incredibly close distance, actually you could reach out and touch them (which is forbidden). I am not aware of any other place where this would be possible. At the same time, the variety of animals is simply overwhelming. Plus, you will see animals that can be found only on the Galapagos Islands.

Desert Guardian
This impressive cactus was found near a former agriculture site in Cuzco, Peru.

Espanola Mockingbird
These birds are not afraid of coming close and picking on your feet and toes to see if you are somehow tasty...

Frigatebird Chick
While the adults are mainly black, the chicks are completely opposite, mainly white with some black stripes on the back.

Galapagos Hawk
Nowhere else on the world would it be possible to approach a hawk so closely. It was watching for prey, recognising but completely ignoring any humans.

Great Blue Heron
This Heron landed on a nearby sand dune, watching out for freshly hatched turtles on their way to the sea. In reality, hatched turtles can only survive when they hatch at night, in complete darkness.

Gull Chick
Only a couple of days old, this chick was anxiously waiting for the return of its parents, trying to hide as much as possible.

I can say without exaggeration, that this was one of the most impressive trips of our lives so far. We have already decided to return at some point in the future, to explore the remaining islands we were not able to visit this time. I just hope that the conservation efforts will help to keep this area protected for a long time.

Heading for the Runway
The wind was strong, and therefore most of the birds were carefully timing their landing approaches. This one was about to land three meters from my position.

Iguana on Fire
The beautiful red vegetation offered itseld as a foreground of this Iguana picture, with the evening sun enhancing the warm color.

Iguana Portrait
This Iguana looks as if it was slightly amused by the number of tourits surrounding it... minutes ago, it had enjoyed a bath in the sand.

Iguana Sun Bath
As cold-blooded animals, Iguanas are especially dependent on the warmth of the sun. Right after sunrise, they re-orient their bodies to warm up as quickly as possible.

Land Iguana
These Iguanas are a really perfect match to the volcanic environment of the Galapagos islands.

Land Iguanas
Usually you will find Iguanas on the beach, next to the water. They remain rather immobile until their bodies have been warmed by the sun.

1.Galapagos Islands National Park rules

To preserve nature and to reduce human impact as much as possible, Galapagos National Park has decided on some very strict rules, which totally make sense:

You are only allowed to visit the islands under the guidance of a National Park ranger
Your visiting times are restricted and set in advance
You are not allowed to leave the marked paths
You are not allowed to touch the animals. If an animal approaches you, you need to get out of *their* way
You are not allowed to take anything from the islands, just pictures

Lava Tree
When I visited the island, the trees had no leaves on them, and their brightness stood out against the nearly black volcanic rocks.

Lunch Time
Finally, after the female returned to the nest, it offered food to the chick - which shoved its head down the throat of the female and picked up the food from the stomach.

Magnificent Frigatebird
These Frigatebirds are one of the Galapagos symbols, also used by their airline. The males have this impressive scarlet throat pouch which is used in the mating season to attract females.

Male Frigatebird
These impressive birds follow ships for a long time, and they can utilize thermics to hover in the air without moving their wings. Against a bright sky, their near-black bodies are really hard to photograph.

Nazca Booby
Being one of three different Boobie species on Galapagos, this one looks most closely like his European relatives.

Playful at the Beach
This seal puppy was waiting for its mother to return from fishing - it was really fun watching it trying to entertain itself.

These rules will hopefully in the future allow a lot of people to enjoy the beauty of what I would consider nature’s last paradise on earth. If you are interested in nature or wildlife, this place needs to be on your list of places to visit.

Sally Lightfoot Crab
Although hundreds of these crabs can be seen on every Galapagos island, I like this picture because of the red-green contrast.

Seal Silhouette
Right after sunrise, this seal raised its head and for a while, it remained quiet and motionless, enjoying the first warm rays of the sun.

Shut Up
In fact those sea lions were sleeping, but it looked like one was trying to suggest to the other it should stop talking...

Swallow-Tailed Gulls
It was amazing to watch how much time these gulls spent with cleaning and sorting their feathers, but I guess there is a permanent contest...

What Is Wrong With Your Feet?
This is not a mistake - both are Blue-footed Boobies, but the Booby on the right is an immature one. It just started to develop the blue color on his feet.

Yellow Warbler
These birds are tiny, about 10 cm in length. I was actually taking pictures of seals, when this guy sat down next to me and started his morning stretching exercises.

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Robert is an enthusiast amateur photographer from Austria with a preference for black & white and infrared photography. He is an active member of the Austrian Association of Wildlife and Nature Photography (VTNÖ). In his spare time, he likes to take pictures and write about various photographic topics. More about Robert.

1.Galapagos Islands National Park rules

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