In January, we headed to a wonderful vacation in the southern hemisphere. We started in the Galapagos Islands, traveling with
Mountain Travel Sobek.
We chose the
Wildlife Adventure Cruise option, and were very happy with the entire experience.
The first day, we visited one of the larger islands, and were fortunate that it was the wet season and the giant tortoises were feeding in an area where we could see them.
The other islands have a great assortment of land and sea iguanas, sea lions, tropical fish and turtles, and a huge assortment of birds, including Darwin finches, penguins and frigate birds. The animals and birds have no natural predator, so they are indifferent to you and your camera. As a result, they appear to 'pose' for pictures-- so you don't even need to carry a long lens.
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| On the way to snorkel around the big rock! |
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| Rope lava |
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| Blue-footed boobie |
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| Mama and baby sea lion |
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| Land iguanas are plentiful |
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| Sweet dreams! |
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| Reina Silvia: Our home for the cruise |
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| Our boat in an old volcanic cone |
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| Baby blue-footed boobie |
In September, we traveled to Italy for our first extended vacation there. We spent time in Rome and Venice, as well as Tuscany, but one of the highlights of our trip was the walking tour we did in the Chianti area of Tuscany. We used a UK company, Hooked on Walking for this portion of our vacation, and chose the 7 day self-guided Chianti trek. 
