Blue Footed Boobies

When one goes to Africa it's all about lions and elephants, well when one goes to the Galapagos Islands it's all about Bluefooted Boobies, Iguanas, and Sea Lions. Follow that up by looking at alot of rocks moved by ancient indian civilizations and you pretty much cover the trip Susan and I just completed. We traveled with Ed and Nancy Fuller ( good friends from T-ride) and believe it or not, we're still good friends.

We arrived back in CO. last nite at 11pm ( 1pm eastern time) after an absolutely wonderful trip. We all agreed that Lindblad Tours knows how to organize and operate a tour. Rather than going into a great amount of detail I'll just list a few of the highlights and show a few pictures. ( By the way, the new camera worked just fine.)

Staying on an old ship for a week that was like going back in time.

How about being able to walk right up to any and all birds. The Blue Footed Boobies were just the best. Lots of babies and yes they really do have blue feet.

Probably the most fun was swimming with the sea lions. They love to swim right up to your snorkeling mask, blow bubbles in your face and then gleefully swim away. Needless to say it was quite the experience.

And did I mention the Iguanas? No? Well , as interesting as they are, after about 4000 of them , well, you get the idea.

Here's one of the best pictures

After a week of learning just about everything possible in the Galapagos Islands, we headed for Lima Peru and on to Cuzco Peru ( 11400 ft elevation) We travelled by bus to a small town about an hour from Machu Picchu by the name of Ollantaytamba. This was our hotel.

Then, we took a train to Machu Picchu where we spent a nite at the Santuary Hotel located right at the ruins. It's rather special as everyone else takes a bus down the mountain and only those staying at the hotel get to view the sunrise etc. Very Special!

The mountain in the picture is named Wayna Picchu and Ed and I had the opportunity to climb it early in the morning. Believe it or not, the Incas built steps all the way to the top.

And finally, I think one of the highlights was all the people we met. Everyone on the tour was wonderful. There were all kinds of scientists. Geologists, biotech research people, nuclear engineers, etc etc . In addition we had the opportunity to photograph some of the local kids.

Sooo, tomorrow it's home to Telluride. It's fun to travel, but it's good to get home!