Buccaneer Cove

One of my favorite things about cruises is how the ship usually does most of its movement overnight, so you wake up at a new destination. Such was the case again the Galápagos, when we went to bed after a wonderful day on Genovesa Island and awoke in Buccaneer Cove at Santiago Island.

I don't often shoot landscapes with my telephoto lens.  But the morning excursion was a Zodiac ride around the cove, so a wide angle lens and tripod were a bit impractical.  So, this is the best I could do.  Clearly, more practice is in order to get something truly memorable. But it does give you a sense of the volcanic terrain.

I may have taken enough pictures of sleeping sea lions to do an entire coffee table book just on that subject.  Though this one was clearly keeping half an eye on us.

Given the choice, I would probably prefer sleeping on sand to rock.  But hey, I've probably slept on less comfortable surfaces than this.

The rock faces were dotted with these Brown Noddys, who really aren't all that brown.

I ended up the trip with very few pictures of Blue-footed Boobies.  Not a complaint, given all the amazing stuff we did see.  Just an observation.

Like many animals, Brown Pelicans have a subspecies endemic to the Galápagos Islands.

Another landscape shot, technically.  Just a much more intimate one, zooming in on some striations in a cliff face.

What looked a lot like a Green Heron to me is actually a Lava Heron here.

My first of many close-up encounters with Sally Lightfoot Crabs.

This Yellow-crowned Night-Heron pulled off the impressive feat of looking annoyed and relaxed all at the same time.  Maybe it was annoyed because it was relaxing, and our little boat of tourists came too close?  Whatever the case, I love the perpendicular feather sticking out of his back.

Playing peek-a-boo with a Marine Iguana, like you do.

All in all, I was pleased with the shots I was able to get from a small, inflatable boat!

Click here for more blog posts from my amazing visit to the Galápagos Islands!