• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

American history and black history cannot be separated.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

The lights are all blinking red.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – arrieve – The Galapagos

On The Road – arrieve – The Galapagos

by WaterGirl|  June 18, 20215:00 am| 16 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging, The Galapagos

FacebookTweetEmail

On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

arrieve

I’m not sure I’ll ever travel as much as I used to, in whatever our post-pandemic world turns out to be, but if I can, the two places I would most love to return to are Antarctica and the Galapagos. Unfortunately, you really have to travel by ship for both destinations. They’re not the huge cruise ships with thousands of passengers, but smaller expedition vessels; even so, it will be a long time before that feels safe to me. In the meantime I have the memories – and the pictures.

I went to the Galapagos in 2013 with National Geographic. We spent one night in Guyaquil, Ecuador (where I had a memorable experience replacing the USB cable for my camera at a mall surrounded by armed guards) before flying to the Galapagos and meeting the ship in Barquerizo Moreno.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 7
Barquerizo Moreno

The main street in Barquerizo Moreno. On the way to the marina, the bus stopped abruptly to allow a large sea lion to waddle across the road.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 6
Barquerizo Moreno

There were dozens more sea lions passed out on every bench like drunks recovering from a bender.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 5
Barquerizo Moreno

Obviously it was a rough night.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 4
Cerro Brujo

After getting settled on the ship, and having an orientation going over the very stringent rules for visiting the islands, we had our first shore excursion.

Cerro Brujo is where tradition has it that Darwin first set foot in the Galapagos in 1835. He was not impressed. This is the quote from The Voyage of the Beagle that you find in every guidebook:

In the morning (17th) we landed on Chatham Island, which, like the others, rises with a tame and rounded outline, broken here and there by scattered hillocks, the remains of former craters. Nothing could be less inviting than the first appearance. A broken field of black basaltic lava, thrown into the most rugged waves, and crossed by great fissures, is everywhere covered by stunted, sun-burnt brushwood, which shows little signs of life.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 3
Cerro Brujo

Looking up the beach. That’s our ship in the background.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 2
Cerro Brujo

The beach was full of sea lions, dozens and dozens of sea lions. Most of them were asleep, recuperating from their last hunt; it’s not easy to catch fish with your teeth. They sprawled out on the sand in long oblivious rows, or curled into piles of fur. Some of them had track marks where other sea lions had just waddled over them.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos 1
Cerro Brujo

We were supposed to stay at least six feet away from the wildlife, but the sea lions were curious about us and our cameras, and more than once I backed away from one sea lion only to almost step on another who’d come up behind me. We weren’t supposed to talk to the animals or make noises to get their attention, but more than once I caught myself babbling baby talk to the pups. Because they were just so cute.

On The Road - arrieve - The Galapagos
Cerro Brujo

One of the Sally Lightfoot crabs that were all over the beach. They reminded me of the brightly painted metal toys I used to cut my fingers on when I was a kid.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Late Night Open Thread: What’s the Opposite of ‘Schadenfreude’?
Next Post: COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, June 17-18 »

Reader Interactions

16Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    June 18, 2021 at 6:08 am

    I was going to go to the Galapagos but the virus happened.

  2. 2.

    YY_Sima Qian

    June 18, 2021 at 6:13 am

    The Galapagos is on my bucket list! Would love to revisit Antarctica and the Svalbard Islands, too.

  3. 3.

    JeanneT

    June 18, 2021 at 6:13 am

    I hope there are more photos and stories to come from this trip – these are great!

  4. 4.

    Benw

    June 18, 2021 at 7:22 am

    Really neat pics. The landscapes at Cerro Brujo are unreal.

  5. 5.

    Laura Too

    June 18, 2021 at 7:36 am

    I would have had a very tough time not being able to talk to them, they are adorable! Thanks for the amazing pics!

  6. 6.

    arrieve

    June 18, 2021 at 7:55 am

    @JeanneT: I submitted five more sets and will probably do a few more — I took a LOT of pictures.

    I really enjoy reliving that trip. It’s such a magical place.

  7. 7.

    randy khan

    June 18, 2021 at 8:08 am

    More sea lion photos!  They’re great!

  8. 8.

    Albatrossity

    June 18, 2021 at 8:23 am

    Lovely shots!

    It is my considered opinion that the beach at Cerro Brujo is the loveliest beach in the world. And the sea lions are very friendly there, often opting to swim with you in the surf and follow you along as you walk up the beach.

    Looking forward to future installments!

  9. 9.

    MelissaM

    June 18, 2021 at 8:49 am

    I would take that crab to the paint store and do a kitchen in those colors! Beautiful!

    How do you not talk to curious creatures? I can see that were I to visit the Galapagos, I would breat that rule all the time. I talk or mutter to everything. Nice photos, I look forward to the rest of the story.

  10. 10.

    sdhays

    June 18, 2021 at 9:00 am

    Gorgeous pictures!

  11. 11.

    SkyBluePink

    June 18, 2021 at 9:50 am

    You captured the beauty !
    And sea lions!!!!
    More, please-

  12. 12.

    cope

    June 18, 2021 at 10:05 am

    Lovely pictures of a magical place, thank you.  Extremely unlikely I will ever get there at this point but it still seems such an enchanted part of the world.

  13. 13.

    Isua

    June 18, 2021 at 10:10 am

    My parents were going to take me and my husband with them to the Galapagos, and then my children happened, so my parents waited a year or two to help with diapers and then went on their own. I still need to find a way to get there; I was a geology major and I want to go see a hotspot. These are great photos, thank you for sharing them!

  14. 14.

    StringOnAStick

    June 18, 2021 at 11:41 am

    I’m so glad we were able to go to the Galapagos 8 years ago; thanks for the reminder!

  15. 15.

    way2blue

    June 18, 2021 at 12:24 pm

    Looking forward to more Galapagos photos.  The sea lion pups reminded me of a snorkel trip off La Paz, Baja Sur.  We circled a little rock islet and some pups came out to play with us.  Our guide warned that if a male came at us blowing bubbles to back away.  That’s their warning.  I guess when underwater—you work with what you have, but it seemed a whimsical way to defend territory….

  16. 16.

    J R in WV

    June 18, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    We snorkeled with sea lion pups in the Sea of Cortez, on our whale watching trip, photos from which I have posted in the distant past. We didn’t see them on land except from in the water.

    My buddy Mike, retired ER doc, who invited us on the trip, managed to get a cut from a curious sea lion pup, evidently the young’ens like to explore with their mouths. We were warned to not let them see fingers, keep hands balled up. He needed a bandaid and some ointment, no big deal.

    He also got covered up by whale snot when a young whale sneezed hard right beside him. A huge source of amusement on a great trip with Nat Geographic / Lindblad adventure cruises. Very professional event. Whale sharks, Grey whales, humpback whales, sea lions, lots of great geology and desert wildlife etc. We didn’t do much hiking, my knees could give it up any time. Was still wonderful

    Love your Galapagos pics, drunk sea lions on the benches is a wonderful image!

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - BarcaChicago  - Off the Gunflint Trail/Boundary Waters 8
Image by BarcaChicago (7/11/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • dmsilev on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 9:10pm)
  • danielx on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 9:08pm)
  • Ruckus on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 9:02pm)
  • Ruckus on Friday Afternoon Distraction Open Thread: Get the Passport Stamped with All the Right Signals… (Jul 11, 2025 @ 9:00pm)
  • danielx on Fox News Friday Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 8:58pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!