2 Engineers Retired

wounded sea lion baby Today again dawned bright and sunny and we were off again to a beach for a walk and a snorkel.    By now we were old hands at seeking the wonderful sea lions - so engaging.   And the babies – oh my goodness always so cute with their eyes looking huge in their heads. I am cute and I like having fun We were less prepared though for the sight of this little guy.   He was curled up high on the beach away from the water and the other sea lions.   If you look closely his back flipper appears to have been seriously wounded.   The guides say that this is most likely the result of a shark attack and that he has dragged himself up here to die.   It must have been recent because otherwise he looks quite healthy.   Nature of course but particularly sad when they are babies.   Contrast this with another wide eyed baby rolling around in the sand and looking for all the world to be having a grand ol...

Santa Cruz Island is the Galapagos’ most populous island with somewhere in the range of 17,000 – 20,000 people.   Most of our guides live there and had grown up there.   They quickly disappeared and went off to see family. This was to be the only inhabited place that we visited during our week in the islands.  Our first stop upon arrival was the Charles Darwin Research Station.   It is here that work is being done to ensure the survival of the various species of tortoises found through out the islands.   To do this some eggs are gathered from each island (the tortoises vary from island to island).   These eggs hatch here at the research station and the baby tortoises grow in safety for a few years.   The babies are separated by age and by island.   Once they are old enough they are weaned off the food being provided by the station and set up so that they can feed themselves when they are let go.  Baby Tortoises ...

Today we headed off to look at Mangrove swamps from a zodiac boat.   This was quite a bit different from what we had been doing on the other islands because we were in the boat, but not really on the sea.   It was calm (thankfully for me as I am prone to sea sickness).   Not the best photo but the only one that actually caught a penguin instead of just a wake The plan was to see penguins, and we did see them. Unfortunately all the penguins I saw were swimming, and these little fellas are amazingly fast.   Every once in a while they would pop up for a quick breath and even that was quick.   So – it was terrific from an observers point of view but somewhat lousy from a photographers point of view. As well we saw more sea turtles from the boat, which also gave a neat perspective.   Oh – and a sea lion sitting in a tree  (yup!) If you look really, really hard you can see a sea lion sitting in this tree. Sea ...

Underwater Selfie The first stop today was at Post Office Bay which in the old days was an arrangement of barrels where one could leave a communication (such as a letter for home) and someone else who stopped might pick it up and deliver it.  Still in "use" today.  Fairly decent system when it was established back in about 1793, but currently a touristy thing.  We did not bother too much but I think my friend might have grabbed a postcard destined for somewhere near her. Stingrays on the beach This was also to be an off the beach snorkel stop which almost got derailed because of the vast number of stingrays resting at the waters edge which blocked our access into the water.  They were not really obvious at first since they had a lot of sand settled on their top, but once you figured out what you were looking for there were an awful lot of them.  Luckily they eventually cleared out and we headed back into the water. ...

Lots of skaters on the canal In Ottawa this past weekend we just finished Winterlude. An orgy of skating, music, ice and snow sculptures and BeaverTails.  Plus a whole bunch of things we don't participate in (😉) Maple Taffy hardening in the snow The ice sculptures are an international competition with sections for duos and singles.  Luckily (?) this year the weather has been cold enough that the sculptures basically lasted through the entire festival.  Here are a few of the sculptures (in a bit of a tent to keep them from the rain).  From a team of Canada and Philippines Japanese Carver Russian Carving Team Ice skating on the canal was very busy with refreshment stands at various points along the way (plus bathrooms and skate rentals).  Unfortunately we decided to go on the last day of Winterlude, which turned out to be a warmish day, and the ice surface was not great.  So we, along with many ...

This day started with what was billed as a long steep walk.  And, yes it was long, and yes it was steep.  And frankly the walk on the way up did not have much to recommend it.  But at the top – well not only was there a wide ranging view there were blue footed boobys - Plenty of blue footed boobys. The Blue footed Booby is probably the poster bird for the Galapagos. I mean, blue feet???? Well we were lucky enough to see quite a few of these up at the top and most were in pairs.   Not only in pairs but doing a mating dance which to me appears to be : Walk around a bit and show off your feet -           Spread your wings wide and coo at the sky -           Hand the lady a stick Ok - there is probably more to it than that – but not much I think The feet really are blue, along with the beak.  They are very attractive birds. ...

Getting started on our dream journey was relatively uneventful.  We flew to Baltra, one of the Galapagos islands where the airport is.  Apparently this airport was a US airbase in WW2 charged with protecting the Panama canal.  The landing was initially aborted (and my heart skipped a beat I think) but landed easily on the second attempt.  They claimed wind at ground level but I have my doubts.  Then we cooled our heels for a bit in the VIP lounge at the airport while they waited for the next plane which also had people destined for our boat.   Our home for the week The boat itself was a 48 passenger (and 40 crew) arrangement which I think was perfect for what we were doing.  The various boats in the Galapagos seem to be grouped as taking on 16 people (many of these), a few mid -sized (like ours) and a couple of large (100 person ones).  We were very happy with our choice – neither too big nor too little.  There were usually ...