Photo Gallery: The Galapagos Islands

The Mad Traveler Photo Gallery: The Galapagos Islands

Blue-footed boobies perform their mating dance

Isabella II holds 40 passengers and combines education, adventure and luxury. Pangas prepare for a shore excursion.

The giant tortoises of the Galapagos were nearly wiped out but now enjoy good protection from the national park system.

A mother frigate bird feeds her chick.

The male frigate bird inflates the red sac at his throat to attract a mate.

Formed by volcanic activity, most of the islands are quite rugged and no place to be stranded.

Sea lions are fearless - after all this is THEIR home, not ours.

Daily shore excursions to various islands are the centerpiece of the voyage.

A sea turtle searches for food as snorkelers swim by.

The sea lions' version of Madonna and Child.

Conditions on many of the islands are harsh and only the animals that were able to adapt survived.

A heron

A sea lion naps in the sun

A frigate bird takes flight

A mother feeds her chick, ten paces from the camera.

The marine iguana is the only iguana that dives for its food. Special adaptations allow it to drink salt water.

A sea lion stretches after lounging on the beach for hours.

The sun sets as the group returns to the ship for the night.

No bathing suits on these beaches.

A sea lion pup awaits its mother who is in the sea searching for food.

An iguana

A sea lion pup nursing

A Nazca booby commands his spot in the protected nesting area.

Trails are not made friendly for tourism. Each island is left completely as nature presents it.

Not a volcano or a mountain, but an ash cone covered with the scrubby vegetation of the dry season.

Post Office Bay is where whalers of the past dropped off mail which was delivered when other whalers headed in that direction stopped by.

Penguins at the equator? Only in the Galapagos.

Scientists estimate the life span of the giant tortoises may reach 150 years.

So tempting... resting in a pond, tortoises look like giant stepping stones.

An old lava tube descends into the earth and is so perfectly formed that one might suspect it is manmade.

A mother frigate bird feeds her chick.	The male frigate bird inflates the red sac at his throat to attract a mate.	Formed by volcanic activity, most of the islands are quite rugged and no place to be stranded.
Sea lions are fearless - after all this is THEIR home, not ours.	Daily shore excursions to various islands are the centerpiece of the voyage.	A sea turtle searches for food as snorkelers swim by.

The sea lions' version of Madonna and Child.	Conditions on many of the islands are harsh and only the animals that were able to adapt survived.	A heron
A sea lion naps in the sun	A frigate bird takes flight	A mother feeds her chick, ten paces from the camera.

The marine iguana is the only iguana that dives for its food. Special adaptations allow it to drink salt water.	A sea lion stretches after lounging on the beach for hours.	The sun sets as the group returns to the ship for the night.
No bathing suits on these beaches.	A sea lion pup awaits its mother who is in the sea searching for food.	An iguana
A sea lion pup nursing	A Nazca booby commands his spot in the protected nesting area.	Trails are not made friendly for tourism. Each island is left completely as nature presents it.
Not a volcano or a mountain, but an ash cone covered with the scrubby vegetation of the dry season.	Post Office Bay is where whalers of the past dropped off mail which was delivered when other whalers headed in that direction stopped by.	Penguins at the equator? Only in the Galapagos.
Scientists estimate the life span of the giant tortoises may reach 150 years.	So tempting... resting in a pond, tortoises look like giant stepping stones.	An old lava tube descends into the earth and is so perfectly formed that one might suspect it is manmade.