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.
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.
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.
There were dozens more sea lions passed out on every bench like drunks recovering from a bender.
Obviously it was a rough night.
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.
Looking up the beach. That’s our ship in the background.
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.
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.
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.
Baud
I was going to go to the Galapagos but the virus happened.
YY_Sima Qian
The Galapagos is on my bucket list! Would love to revisit Antarctica and the Svalbard Islands, too.
JeanneT
I hope there are more photos and stories to come from this trip – these are great!
Benw
Really neat pics. The landscapes at Cerro Brujo are unreal.
Laura Too
I would have had a very tough time not being able to talk to them, they are adorable! Thanks for the amazing pics!
arrieve
@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.
randy khan
More sea lion photos! They’re great!
Albatrossity
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!
MelissaM
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.
sdhays
Gorgeous pictures!
SkyBluePink
You captured the beauty !
And sea lions!!!!
More, please-
cope
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.
Isua
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!
StringOnAStick
I’m so glad we were able to go to the Galapagos 8 years ago; thanks for the reminder!
way2blue
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….
J R in WV
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!