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Galapagos, January 2025

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We were lucky enough to go on a land-based tour of the Galapagos between 1/16 and 1/26.

We start our journey on San Cristobal. We flew in from Quito, Ecuador. 

San Cristobal has a lovely town with a nice harbor and a massive sea lion colony.

A peaceful harbor scene, with sunrise-tinged clouds in the background. Dozens of small boats fill the harbor. In the foreground, a wavey wall cuts across diagonally. Green shrubs and trees fill the intermediate triangle before the harbor.

This is the sea lions’ beach. They own it! No people allowed.

They also own benches and patches of curb and boats along the wharf. 

We were lucky enough to go when there were lots of sea lion pups. The babies stay where they are stashed until momma comes back.

They are adorable and vocal.

The first full day, we went diving at Kicker Rock. This is one of the top snorkeling and diving spots: if you come to San Cristobal and you’re up for water fun, you will go here.

There is an amazing canyon between the two rocks.

We were lucky enough to see hammerheads and a huge school of fish.

Two multi-story rocks with near-vertical sides thrust out of the ocean. A jaunty red boat is on the water in the foreground

We glimpsed our

We glimpsed our first marine iguanas that day, but we got much better sightings the next day, at Floreana.

Each island has its own marine iguanas, with distinctive coloration. The Floreana marine iguanas had wonderful shadings of red and green, especially the males.

Two iguanas share a rock looking out to see. The larger iguana (likely a male) has red coloration with a greenish line down his back. The smaller iguana (likely a female) is mostly charcoal colored, with just a hint of red on her sides

On Floreana, we went up to the highlands and got to see our first tortoises!

These are relatively young (30 years or so), and as soon as the rat population is eradicated, they will be fully released into the wild. They are currently walled into a protected area in the highlands.

A large tortoise sits in the green grass. It is bracketed by a couple slim tree trunks. A bare patch of earth in the foreground shows where a tortoise likes to sleep for the night.

From the highlands, the volcanic heritage of the islands is clearly visible.

The Galapagos have been formed over millions of years by a hot spot. Each island is usually made up of multiple volcanoes. The oldest of the Galapagos are actually gone — they are on a tectonic conveyor belt.

A volcanic cone rises above rolling green hills. The grater is highlighted by shadow

Then it was on to Isabela. We went kayaking, and got to see lots of fun things around the harbor, most notably the Galapagos penguins.

These are the only penguins you can see in the northern hemisphere (just barely!).

Note that puffins are not penguins 😉

Two small penguins stand on a rock in the water. Beyond another peninsula of rock cuts across the frame. Beyond, a couple boats are visible before the green of mangroves.

The next day, we went for a hike on one of Isabela’s several volcanoes.

It sprinkled on us for the first half, which was actually quite welcome — it was blistering hot when the sun came out!

This is a very active volcano, that erupted in 2005 and 2018.

An S-curve of black cinders fills the foreground. Beyond, the curve of a volcanic crater is visible. The distant curve is green with vegetation, but the closer slopes are black and lifeless.

The next day, we went snorkeling en route to Los Tuneles. That was one of the trip highlights!

Our guide helped us see reef sharks dozing in their cozy caves.

An underwater view showing several smallish sharks in an underwater cave. Two arched entrances beyond give light and the sense of space.

There were also lots and lots of beautiful turtles!

And many beautiful little fish! 

And sea horses!

Such a treat.

A large turtle is starting to come up for air. In the background on the left, several snorkelers are visible, observing from a respectful distance. In the background on the right, a turtle is diving back down towards the bottom, which is green with vegetation.

Los Tuneles itself was wonderful! You aren’t allowed to snorkel there right now, but we took a dingy through, and were able to walk around a little bit.

Layers of old lava have eroded away, leaving dozens of natural arches. The formations are studded with cacti, and it is prime nesting for boobies.

Two people stand on an arch of volcanic stone over the water. A large cactus is visible on the left, and there is a layer of green mangroves in the distance.

We closed out our time on Isabela by visiting the tortoise breeding center.

Rats are a threat to baby tortoises, so they raise tortoises here and then release them when they’re old enough to be safe. These guys are a few years old.

Dozens of little tortoises, a little bigger than American box turtles, are in a concrete enclosure with a rock wall fencing them in

Finally, it was on to Santa Cruz, the most commercial of the islands.

There, the highlight was a tortoise reserve. This is private land that butts up against a national park. They allow wild tortoises to come and go.

The tortoises especially like the mud wallow.

Two large tortoises, facing opposite directions, are in the foreground of a huge mud puddle/pond. Several other tortoises are in the background. The edge of the pond is churned mud. The surface of the water is green with algae.

And here we are with a couple of the tortoises. They were big, but there is some false perspective going on here 😉

All in all, a really wonderful trip! I would highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go.

A couple with a large tortoise in the foreground, and a somewhat smaller tortoise off to the left

Sadly, it was about this time that a bit of food poisoning kicked in. It took out 10 or our 16 members, and the guides got a bit of it too. Fortunately we only missed a couple minor things — it basically turned one lost transit day into two.

Fortunately that discomfort is already receding in memory, leaving behind a truly lovely trip!

Travel

Joshua Tree

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We just got back from a lovely little trip to Joshua Tree and San Diego.

Joshua Tree is named for the Yucca brevifolia plants that are common in the northern plains of the park, but rare in general. They are amazing tree-form yuccas that can live for decades or centuries!

A Joshua Tree against an eroded granite island at a picnic area in Joshua Tree National Park

I didn’t know quite what to expect from the park, other than an interesting desert environment. I didn’t expect all the beautiful eroded granite outcroppings! The are often so pillowy that I mistook them for sandstone, until I got a closer look.

Eroded granite formations on the Split Rock trail

The two key features of the northern part of the park — Joshua trees and granite formations — are nearly mutually exclusive. Although the occasional Joshua Tree grows near the rocks, as in the first picture, the Joshua Trees prefer the wide prairie areas. In the rocky areas, they are mostly replaced by regular yucca, bear grass, pinyon pines, juniper, and little scrub oaks.

A massive granite boulder, the size of a house, is graded by the neighboring rocks that made up part of the same crag before erosion broke them up. The yucca, creosote bushes, and juniper in the foreground are common in the shallow soils surrounding the crags.

We happened to do two of the most dramatic hikes right off the bat.

Hidden Valley is a short but splendid introduction to the granite formations. Apparently it gets very busy; we were lucky enough to go first thing, so there were very few people. The trail twists and winds among a series of granite crags and valleys, so it does a good job of keeping hikers separated out. And it’s gorgeous!

This eroded granite crag with bear grass and a twisty dead tree is midway through the Hidden Valley hike. The eroded crag in the background gives a sense of the layers of rock that are a feature throughout the hike.

The Split Rock trail is a longer hike. It has lots of amazing views, they just aren’t quite as concentrated as on the Hidden Valley hike — but it also isn’t as busy. A lot of people come and take a picture of Split Rock, which is right by the parking lot, and then leave without doing the hike.

Split rock. This cracked boulder is the size of a small house!

In addition to the longer hikes, there are some short walks that are spectacular introductions to the rock formations. We visited Hall of Horrors on the second day. It isn’t listed as a hike at all, because it is primarily a climbing area (Joshua Tree is a world-class climbing destination).

Because it’s a climbing area, you can really explore the rocky crags.

One of the rocky crags at Hall of Horrors, from the back. Note presence of Rob for scale.

On the second day, we made a point to get a better look at the Joshua Tree prairie area. There are several opportunities for this; we walked the first mile or two of Big Tree trail from Ryan Campground.

Gestural Joshua Tree with Joshua Tree plains in the background

It’s hard to date Joshua Trees, because they’re succulents, but the big ones like these are probably well over 100 years old. However, you won’t see many bigger than these — they seem to max out at around 20 feet, before gravity starts breaking them to pieces.

On our last day, we drove south through the park, taking the scenic route back towards San Diego. The road drops rather precipitously from the Mojave Desert area into the Colorado Desert area.

The Cholla Garden gave a neat glimpse into one aspect of Colorado Desert flora. It would be a real treat to see it in bloom!

These cholla cacti varied from knee high to head high. The little yellow clusters looked like flowers. I’m not sure whether they are young fruit, or early-stage buds.

I’ll close out with this sunrise shot. It was actually taken in Joshua Tree town, a few miles from the Joshua Tree NP gate. The town is full of the unique yuccas; it’s fun to see them integrated into people’s yards and gardens.

Sunrise in Joshua Tree town

I would highly recommend Joshua Tree to anyone who likes dramatic scenery and/or interesting plants. It was very pleasant visiting mid-winter, but it would be amazing seeing the desert in bloom!