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The time has come to grab the cameras and head out the door.  This time I am headed to the Galapagos with four families eager to experience wildlife, absorb the culture, and create memories that last a lifetime.

The image above was created using a Canon 1Ds mark 3, 120-300mm lens, at 200 ISO.  The camera supported on a tripod.  We encountered the Galapagos sea lion last year on a shore excursion to James Island.  The Galapagos are great for encountering wildlife up close and this was no exception.  While the sea lion did sit up as we approached, he never ran and went right back to sleep after we walked past.

This is the third trip report from my recent visit to the Galapagos and the highlands of Ecuador.  Parts one and two can be read here and here.

From the Galapagos, we returned to the mainland and headed into the highlands of Ecuador.  From Quito, we drove into the Andes along the Pan-American Highway.  Our destination was Hacienda Cusin.  This Spanish style hacienda dates back to the 17^th century.  The hacienda covers many acres and is adjacent to a self-contained monastery.  The grounds are beautiful and do a wonderful job of reminding visitors about the history of the area.

The Andes in the highlands of Ecuador.

Hacienda Cusin

The next morning, we headed through the mountains to visit a local school project that Thomson Family Adventures is supporting.  The school is located in the upper reaches of the Andes (over 9,500 feet above sea level) and has 100 students enrolled.  With financial support, the school is expanding its facilities to include a dedicated kindergarten classroom.  The program is set up so that materials are provided through money raised by local tourism companies while the local community provides the labor.  Despite being on summer vacation, two families dropped by the school during our visit to welcome us to the area and to proudly show off the ongoing projects.

New kindergarten classroom at local school, Ecuador.

Ecuadorian family greeting us at local school.

From the school, we continued our trip through the Andes on foot.  For two hours we walked along dirt roads with breathtaking scenery in every direction.  With the mountains as a backdrop, we passed agricultural fields filled with barley and corn.  On several occasions we passed goat herds supervised by children no more the eight years old.  Our guide, Tomas, became a quick friend to anyone who passed by as he was quick to share his bag of plantain chips.

By lunchtime we reached our destination, Hacienda Zuleta; a 16^th century hacienda once owned by Galo Plaza Lasso, a former president of Ecuador.  The hacienda is situated on 5,000 acres and beautifully maintained.  In addition to being a tourist destination, it is a working hacienda with over 300 dairy cows, 2,000 seep, a massive organic vegetable garden, cheese production facilities, and agricultural fields.  Also on the grounds are 130 Caranqui mounds created around 1200 A.D., before the rise of the Inca.  We were fortunate enough to visit one of the mounds as it was being excavated by archeologists.

Archeological excavation of Caranqui mound.

From the excavation we headed up the valley to view the captive Andean Condors that are kept on the premises.  Former pets, these Condors now serve as educational stewards for visiting school children.  There is also the hope that breeding will occur with the young being released back into the wild.  During our visit, we had the good luck of observing a wild Condor perched on top of the enclosure as he visit with his captive friends.

Andean Condor spreading wings.

Our second full day in the Andes began with a horseback ride through the countryside.  Like the previous day’s hike, we were surrounded by amazing scenery in every direction.  I am happy to report that Norma conquered her 20-year fear of horses and mounted up with us.  She did a great job.  After returning to Hacienda Cusin, Tomas filled a special request by scheduling a tour of a local rose plantation.  Ecuador is one of the world’s largest exporter of roses.  Greenhouses abound, with Ecuador exporting hundreds of millions of roses each year.  Our guide lead us through the greenhouses where the plantation harvests 6,000 roses EVERY DAY!  From the greenhouse, roses are brought to a central processing area and divided into groups based on color, stem length, and how open the flower is.  It seems different countries like their roses delivered in different ways.  In the United States we prefer partly open roses.  In France they like their roses to be closed at the time of purchase.  In Russia, they want the flowers to be in full bloom.  Also, stem lengths vary, with Russian markets wanting six-foot stems on their roses.

Roses packaged for shipping.

After being sorted, the roses are packaged together and moved into a walk in refrigerator where the temperature is kept just above freezing.  They are then shipped in refrigerated trucks to refrigerated cargo planes, which take them to distribution centers in Miami.  From there, roses are shipped around the world.  From initial cut to final sale takes less then 5 days.

Our final day in Ecuador involved a visit to the second largest indigenous market in Latin America (apparently there is a larger on in Guatamala).  Each Saturday, the central square of Otavalo is converted into a massive outdoor market, selling everything from vegetables to traditional clothing.  For several hours we wandered throughout the stalls, visiting with the locals and testing the limits of how many bags we could carry (my limit is five).  Deals were abundant, with hand weaved shawls going for $9 and large alpaca blankets for $15.

Lady selling shawls at the Otavalo market.

Fresh fruit at the Otavalo market.

Colorful blankets in Otavalo.

Masks at the Otavalo market.

After completing our mission to stimulate the Ecuadorian economy, Tomas took us to visit local crafts people who were kind enough to demonstrate their trade.  We learned how the textile process works and how traditional musical instruments made.  In each case, the artists were eager to share their passion with us.

Following our adventures in Otavalo, we headed back down the Pan-American Highway and returned to Quito and our flight back to the states.  I believe I speak for everyone on the trip when I say that Ecuador is an amazing place both for its wildlife and its cultural heritage.

This is the second trip report from my recent visit to the Galapagos and the highlands of Ecuador.    Part one of the trip report can be read here.

Our third day in the Galapagos began with a landing at Fernandina Island, the youngest and westernmost island in the Galapagos.  Our boat was greeted by a host of Fernandina natives, a few thousand marine iguanas.

Marine Iguana

Marine iguanas are very common on Fernandina and are ridiculously tame.  Shortly after arriving, I was sitting on the sand holding my camera less then four inches away from hundreds of marine iguanas.  The biggest reaction I got was a slight turn of their heads.  With this in mind, my students and I concentrated on creating dynamic wide angle closeups of the lizards.

Wide angle closeup of Marine Iguanas.

Chris Gamel sitting the marine iguanas.

In addition the iguanas, Fernandina is an island of contrasts.  There are several wetland areas that host a variety of wading birds as well as fish.  In the center of the island, on the other hand, water is scarce and conditions are very dry.  In this area, cacti predominate.  The result is an island with a wide variety of highly photographable subjects.

Cactus closeup

After returning to the boat, we had lunch and then the afternoon was spend on a zodiac off the north end of Isabela Island.  Instead of landing, we spent the time cruising along the shoreline watching and photographing Blue Footed Boobies and Great Frigatebirds perched on the cliffs.  The highlight of the afternoon was when we entered a small cove and found over 15 green sea turtles foraging in the shallow water.  While they might look slow, we learned that capturing a photograph of a sea turtle with its head above the water was exceptionally difficult.

Isabela Island, Galapagos

Blue Footed Boobie

The morning of our last full day in the Galapagos was spent on North Seymore Island, a small, flat rock that serves as the nesting grounds for large colonies of Blue Footed Boobies and Great Frigatebirds.   The trail on North Seymore consists of a simple loop through the brush and we had numerous opportunities to photograph nesting birds.  I particularly enjoyed watching the male Frigatebirds as they filled their red air sac and displayed to attract females.

Great Frigatebird displaying.

Our final afternoon included a 45-minute bus ride into the highlands of Santa Cruz Island.  While most of the Galapagos is dry, the higher elevation of the big islands helps to trap moisture.  The result is a lush vegetation zone with completely different plants and animals.  Our trip up the mountain was made with a purpose; we were looking for Giant Tortoise.  The first tortoise was encountered during the drive.  As we came around a bend in the road, a 200+ pound tortoise was standing in the middle of the road.  Shortly after this encounter, we exited the bus and started to explore the local fields.  Within minutes we located three giant tortoises foraging.  Once again, the wildlife was relaxed permitted us to approach to within touching distance (no we did not touch them).  Ironically, while he was tolerant of us, one of the big males was less tolerant of his rivals.  As we watched, this large male (300+ pounds) made a slow motion lunge towards another male and chased him away.  Watching the fight in slow motion was somewhat humorous but it was clear that they meant business.

Giant Tortoise fight

Sadly, our return from Santa Cruz Island marked the end of our time with the wildlife of the Galapagos.  Following a last night on the Galapagos Explorer 2, we were transported to San Cristobal where we visited the interpretation center.  After our visit, we were taken to the airport and headed back to Quito to begin our adventure in the highlands of Ecuador.

Early Monday morning I returned from my first ever trip to South America (five of seven continents are now under my belt).  This time I was leading a small group of beginning photographers for Thomson Family Adventures, an outfitter that specializes in family adventures.  The trip included five days in the Galapagos followed by three days in the Ecuadorian highlands outside of Quito (the capital of Ecuador).  This is part one in a multi-part series describing the trip and exhibiting some of the images that were captured.

The Galapagos is an island archipelago located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.  It is most famous for its historical significance, as the unique wildlife of the islands assisted Charles Darwin in his development of the Theory of Natural Selection.  Visitors to the island are amazed by the close wildlife encounters.  In the Galapagos, animals are totally unafraid of humans, permitting people to approach to within a few feet and sometimes a few inches.  The close encounters, coupled with the endemic flora and fauna of the islands make it a unique experience and a perfect place to practice wildlife photography.

Following flights from Atlanta and on to Quito, we spent the night at the Hilton Colon in Quito.  The next morning, we returned to the airport to begin our photographic adventure.  After a two and a half hour flight, we arrived on Baltra Island, in the Galapagos.  A quick bus ride transported us to the marina where we took zodiacs to the Galapagos Explored II, a 100 passenger cruise ship that was to be our home for the next five days.

At orientation, we learned we would be making two landings daily, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.  Landings would involve zodiacs and could be either wet or dry (referring to our condition once we got ashore).  There are 120 different landing sites in the Galapagos and each has its own characteristics.  Passengers were divided into 16 person groups each with a unique name (we were gavioatas (sea gulls)).  Groups were then paired up with licensed naturalists who guided us around the islands.  Excursions would last between two and three hours.

Shortly after boarding, we set sail for Santa Cruz Island and our first shore excursion.  The area known as Dragon Hill is most remarkable for the presence of land iguanas.  Unlike their marine counterparts, the land iguanas are yellowish in color and do not swim in the ocean.  During the easy hike, we saw marine iguanas, flamingos, and mockingbirds.  We also saw a variety of native plants found throughout the Galapagos archipelago.

Land Iguana

Our second day found us on Bartolome Island, a mostly barren volcano that looked like the surface of the moon.  The high point (literally) of Bartolome is the 40-minute climb to the volcanic peak where we were treated to a stunning view of pinnacle rock.  Wildlife is sparse on Bartolome, be we did see a lava lizards and pelicans.

The remainder or the morning was spent on Bartolome’s small beach were people could snorkel.  Ysabel and I spent our time chasing Sally Lightfoot Crabs around on the lava rocks.

Sally Lightfoot Crab on lava rocks.

In my opinion, the third landing marked the true photographic beginning of the trip.  James (Santiago) Island involved a wet landing and hosted a wide variety of wildlife that was easy to photograph.  Along the coastline, we saw and photographed both sea lions and fur seals.  Seeing the fur seals sunning on the rocks brought flashbacks of my time researching them in South Africa.  The marine iguanas were abundant and allowed us to approach to within inches, permitting wide-angle closeups.

Juvenile Marine Iguana.

Marine Iguanas on the seashore.

After the hike, we spent an hour on the beach, photographing birds and sea lions as they moved around us.  The highlight was when a very large male sea lion came ashore and climbed onto the rocks directly in front of where we were standing.  He must have weighed over 500 pounds!

Male Galapagos seal lion calling.

Minutes before returning to the ship, two Great Frigatebirds flew directly overhead, providing a spectacular finish to our second day in the Galapagos.

Male Great Frigatebird in flight.