The Most Remote Place We Have Ever Slept

 While we were in Ecuador we did go other places besides the Galapagos.  Besides Quito we flew across the Andes into Coca.  From the airport we took a bus to the dock where we boarded a highspeed outboard canoe.  We sped east down the Napo River into the Amazon jungle.  Right out of Coca it got extremely dense. It wasn't long before we were seeing egrets on the sand bars and parrots flying overhead.  Every so often we would see a Yasuni house or village or a family paddling along. Below is a typical view of the jungle shoreline while we were there.  The water was very low but only 3 weeks past the water was well over the banks.

 After 3 hours on the outboard we came to a dock.  From here we took the boardwalk you see below and hiked along it a little less then half an hour. From the boardwalk we could see all sorts of creepy crawlies and amazing jungle plants and life. 

 At the end of the boardwalk was a small dock with dugout canoes.  We took these canoes through a stream with mangroves dipping into the water. After about half an hour of paddling the stream eventually opened up into a lagoon.  At the far side of the Lagoon was La Selva Jungle Lodge.  Seen below is our first glimpse of it.  The dock is on the mid right and the lounge area are the 2 twin roofs (and floors and walls and stairs and bar)  made out of native materials in the Yasuni fashion.  We had arrived after a 35 minute flight from Quito to Coca, 3 hr canoe ride, half hour hike and half hour dugout canoe.

This is the most remote place that Geordie has ever been and possibly the most remote that I have ever been (except for maybe parts of the BC backcountry which is an entirely different class of far away from civilization).

Fisheye Fun

 Just taking a one-post break from our recent holidays to share a new Christmas toy with any other photography folks out there. Kathryn was incredibly sweet and got me a fisheye lens for xmas, so here's a few test pictures from the very first day. The #1 reason anyone wants a fisheye lens is for photos that make your pets have really big eyes and noses, so here's a quick portrait of Kodiak, taken from about 1 inch away.

 The other neat feature with fisheye lenses is the fact that they can see and capture 180 degrees  and allow for some fun perspectives. This photo of a bridge in Stanley Park was taken from nearly underneath, but because of the warped and extreme perspective you can see the sky above it and the ground below it. This wouldn't work for every situation, but I think its a neat one here and in a handful of other situations.

The primary reason I wanted a fisheye was for taking spherical panoramas. I have tried doing these with my regular lenses, but they required 60+ photos to fit in all the perspective and were invariably distorted in the end and a pain in the ass to stitch together. With the wide angle of the fisheye I was able to capture the picture below with only 8 pictures and with time can probably learn to trim that down to less. This panorama is from the beach at English Bay infront of our apartment and you can click it to see a larger version.

The Holy Trinity of Ground Finches

 It is a common though incorrect belief that Darwin's Finches were Charles Darwin's inspiration for his 'Origin of the Species'.  It was actually the Mockingbirds of the Galapagos that begin his train of thought that led him to his theory of natural selection.  Nonetheless Darwin's Finches pose a great identification challenge to the layperson and expert.  Species are very similar like the three below and hybrids occur. Some species do not co-exist on the same island. The species below are the 3 types of Ground Finch that occur in the Galapagos.  They are named not for their body size but for the size of their bill.

 The fellow above is a Large Ground Finch. They are a rather uncommon sight. The bill is massive and great for cracking hard seed cases.  The bill exerts a huge amount of force. This male was poking around a beach on Genovesa.

The Medium Ground Finch above is abundant.  The size of its bill is very variable but not as dainty and pointed as the Small Ground Finch below. Unlike Large Ground Finch the length of the upper mandible is greater than the dept of the bill.  

  

The Small Ground Finch is very common and often feeds on the skin parasites of Galapagos tortoises and land and marine iguanas.  Identification between Small and Medium Ground Finches can be difficult as on some islands beak size is increasing with subsequent generations so Small Ground Finches are becoming Medium Ground Finches. This change is observable in DNA, thus natural selection can be seen both at the molecular level and in the beak changes of these birds.  So nay sayers who say that it is impossible to directly observe natural selection are wrong.

The Beluga

 During our 8 days in the Galapagos Islands we stayed aboard the MY Beluga. It has a crew of 8 and can hold 16 for a total capacity of 24.  Our total was 21. It is about 35 years old and in lovely condition.  It is a small Yacht with a dining/ social area, a sun deck on the back and an open bow.  It is small enough that it can feel chop. I have never been bothered by sea sickness and get my sea legs pretty quickly. Geordie was bothered just a little but there were some on board that were hitting the dramamine pretty heavily and feeding the fishes.

 The rooms were small but very nice. Ours was about midship on the port side. We had a port hole in the bedroom and one in the shower.  All the closets had special fasteners to hold them shut or open when the ship rolled. One night after we were underway in rough seas I thought a bit more roll and I was going to fall off the bed! I got used to it quickly and for days after we departed the boat I felt the roll of the ship.  It took almost a week for it to go away.

 Below is a panoramic photograph of the dining area and common social area. The kitchen and access to the sundeck is on the far right. On the far left are stairs going down to some bedrooms including ours.  The sofas were a good place to lounge after the sun had gone done and have a beer or glass of wine and look in their excellent supply of nature books. You can see the beautiful wood and brass detailing which gives this ship so much character and charm. It was a pleasure to stay on and would certainly recommend a smaller boat over one of the huge Cruise Ships which hold 100- 3000 people.

 Click on the panorama above to enlarge it.

Wild Tortoises

We saw tortoises in a few places in our adventures on the island of Santa Cruz. Both in the Darwin Research Centre (which we'll cover another time) and roaming wild in the highlands of the island. Since 90% of the island is still designated as a park and not to be cultivated or interfered with, this gives the tortoises a good degree of freedom, and while you'd think that being a slow moving creature the size of a boulder would make you obvious as well, they do tend to blend in a bit at the roadside as you can see below.

Our group had a scheduled visit to a ranchers field which is particularly popular with these wild tortoises, to the extend that in an area of perhaps a few football fields we were fortunate enough to see at least 40 of these peaceful creatures going about their lives. There were a number of pools and wallows which they seemed to enjoy quite a bit as you can see below.

 

But they were also thick on the ground out in the open where they were placidly grazing and you could get right up to them. If they felt threatened they would emit a sighing hiss and slowly retract into their shells like the one pictured below is in the process of doing.

Tortoises were right at the top of my list of amazing things to see in the Galapagos and I was not in any way disappointed with our encounter. These gentle giants are breathtaking to see in the flesh and I feel incredibly fortunate that they are flourishing as well as they are for future generations to enjoy. They were heavily hunted by pirates and sailors back in the day, but careful conservation and a top-notch breeding program and helping to make them a modern success story.

Blue-Footed Boobies

                                                                 BOOBIES!!!
Right! Know that I have all you pervs' attention, I can natter about blue-footed boobies.  These guys are adorable with big blue feet.  Males and females make highly different vocalizations.  To attract a female the male emits a high piping noise and dances. The female has a more gutteral voice.
   

  They have the rather super human ability of diving head first into the ocean at 100km an hour to fish at depths of up to 25m below the oceans surface.  Why?  Hell if I know.  But apparently the sexual differentiation enables smaller males to fish in shallower waters and larger females to fish in deeper waters. This might help them obtain food from more than one source and raise more than one young successfully!

  

The male has more yellow on its iris than the female. The Blue-footed Booby has permanently closed nostrils made for diving. I believe the one below is a male. The first picture looks like a female.  They breathe through the corners of their mouths. You can see the funny wedge angle of their bill close towards they join of the mandible.  

Galapagos Sea Lions

 The galapagos are home to the endemic galapagos sea lion.  Similar to what we get up here in BC, they have evolved and become smaller and resident to the archipelago.  They have no predators here.  There are no seal eating sharks or transient orcas.  Therefore they are quite at home even when there are humans tromping about. 

 They are so relaxed around humans that in the airport in Quito, there are numerous signs stating that you must keep away from wildlife by at least 2 metres.  So measure that.  It's not a lot so we were able to observe them very closely.  They kept on sleeping, playing, nursing and blorting about while under close observation.  This sweet lady below was napping on a very comfortable bed of carpetweed on South Plaza Island.

 The only ones you had to watch out for was the adult bulls or 'beachmasters' that controlled a section of beach or a harem of 1-6 females. They need a bit more respect. We did watch one idiot tourist get chased though.  If I was in his vicinity instead of on a boat I would have smacked him one (tourist not pinniped).  Sealions in the Galapagos are not tame, docile or friendly by any stretch.  However, when were in the water they would come up close to play abit (more on that later in the video). We were clearly in their element and they knew it.  It was a pleasure to hear the bulls calling and displaying. This fellow was 'Arping' along the shallows.  Presumably in a macho display. It was amazing to swim alongside these fellows that while awkward on land were a torpedo of poetry in the water. 

Marine Iguanas

 Marine iguanas were right at the top of my list of things to see in the Galapagos, and I did not come away disappointed. They were one of the most common animals we saw there and are present on nearly every island. Being cold blooded, they are only as active as they have to be, and since the bulk of their diet comes from underwater plants which chills their bodies to get, they are pretty docile when it comes to people and having their photos taken.

 There is quite a bit of variation in their appearance as well, though they are consistently dark in colour, the males will get large red and rusty patches all over themselves as they get closer to their prime breeding age. Swimming for their food builds up a high level of salt in their bodies which they eject by sneezing out little jets of concentrated salt water every few minutes.

 Since their food is concentrated along the seashore, so too are the animal themselves very dense on the ground near the water. Relaxing in large groups on the volcanic rocks that line the shores of every island they are a charming sight. During the morning when they want to warm up they turn their sides to the sun, maximizing the heat they absorb, and as the day goes on, they turn to face the sun and reduce any chance of overheating and dehydration.

Sally Lightfoot Crabs

 One constant source of delight for us each and every day in the Galapagos were Sally Lightfoot Crabs. They're common to every island but because they are so adept at evading predators and getting away from everything that gets closer than they'd like, they are quite tame and easy to get close to. And the adults are a gorgeous red and yellow which contrasts with the black volcanic rock very pleasingly.

 Taking advantage of the consistently block volcanic rock, their juvenile morph is black to blend in with their surroundings, gradually going through a dark red and finally ending in their adult phase.

 The way they scuttle and leap about when you try to catch them apparently reminded the sailors of The Beagle back in the day of a table dancer they had known in a port somewhere named Sally Lightfoot. Whether she would have chosen to be immortalized by an obscure tropical crustacean or not has been lost to time, but leaves an already charming creature with a great backstory.

As an aside, every night when we did our checklists of the animals we had seen, our naturalist guide Juan had the most excellent way of naming them and we'd be wait for his 'SallyLIGHTfoot crab' to come along. Whether that comes across in type or not or if it would be amusing to anyone else I'm not sure, but his way of having the whole name as a single word is just fantastic.

Galapagos Landscapes

 There are 15 large islands in the Galapagos, but on any cruise through the area you will also see many of the 100+ rocks and islets which are smaller than a single square kilometer but make for very striking landscapes. This is a fine example of a rocky islet that most people pass by and has been largely untouched by man.

 Even the larger islands have a feeling of desolate weirdness which takes awhile to get used to. We landed on the island of Santa Cruz at a place called Dragons Hill which has lush vegetation around the base and then very parched and dried out trees reaching up part of the hill. Ecuador is trying very hard to prevent any further plant and animal introduction on the islands so the plant and animal life there is largely unlike anything we'd seen anywhere else.

Kicker Rock is particularly striking from this angle. For scale, the small white dot at the lower left tip of the island is a boat for about 20 people, so the cliffs are sheer and the spires are looming. This particular formation is very different from the back, with the spanish name being 'Leon Dormido' or 'sleeping lion' as the back looks like a giant cat with its head on its paws.

Ecuador and the Galapagos

 We recently took a trip down to Ecuador, a spanish-speaking and largely catholic country in equatorial south america. We landed in the city of Quito, the political but not economic capital of the country, located in the centre of the country. We spent slightly over a week in the galapagos and then 5 days in the amazon rainforest in the eastern end of the country.

 While they are 972km from the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are still part of the country and consist of dozens of islands and smaller rocks created by a volcanic hotspot. Though they look small on most maps, there were too many to visit in a single trip, so our cruise held predominantly to the east end of the archipelago, following a path similar to the one below.

The people of Ecuador were incredibly helpful and friendly throughout and we both encourage anyone considering a visit down there to prioritize it on their list. From mountain cities to volcanic islands to rainforest we saw a lot of variation, and Ecuador actually boasts the highest level of biodiversity per square kilometer of the country. The environment is a priority to the people as well and is legally protected by their constituion, though I'm sure that the reality on the ground is often different as they are also one of the largest oil exporters in south america.

Marine Mammal Roundup

This summer marked my third year of volunteering with Marine Mammal Rescue.  The season is going super long with 157 seals coming in over the summer.  It's incredibly rewarding especially seeing small newborn pups grow up to me big huge fat seals.  I was lucky too as I got to go on 2 releases, one with the marine police!  I'll do a release post later.  The success rate this year was around 80% which is excellent. There are still 40-something animals on site.  One of the highlights this year was Flash Gorden: a California Sea Lion who had swallowed some salmon tackle and it was embedded in his esophagus.  Fortunately this stately fellow survived his 50% chance and was released on the island several weeks back.

Another interesting story is that of Jack. Jack is a male harbour porpoise who was beaching himself (basically trying to die).  He was only 6 weeks old when he was brought in.  He had somehow lost his mom and pod.  He had lost muscle tone and had to be in a sling as he could not support himself.  He is 12 weeks old now and doing really well.  Here he is with me at 10 weeks old.  We play with him to exercise his muscles.  I am in a dry suit and really bouyant.  He pushed me over then swam over top of me and pushed me around a bit by my arm. 

And below is a Yarrow who is known for supervising the whole site.  He is big enough now to peek over his tub and takes an active interest in watching all the stuff going on.  He will be going into the pre-release pool soon and then home! 

Quebec and Ottawa Highlight Reel

We still have a few topics and travels to cover from our summer in Quebec and Ottawa, but since the highlight reel is close enough to done, I figured we'd get it out and online sooner than later. Since this trip was more work and visiting than extreme animals it has a different feel than our Africa footage but I'm still pleased with it and feel that it captures the vibe of our time out east nicely.

Many of the events in the footage already have their own posts so if you want more details on anything you see there it is likely already available. Thanks once again to Yves, Anne, Jason, Natasha, Eugene, Carrie, Ben, Paul, Alex and Susan for helping to make such a fun and memorable trip. Hope to see you all out west before too long.

I sometimes find Vimeo is picky about playing embedded like this, so if it won't play for you, just right click on it and choose 'Watch on Vimeo' and it will work... I normally prefer Youtube for these things, but the music was disabled because I would apparently have cost Robert Plant thousands of dollars :P

Panoramic Parliament

 One highlight of Parliament Hill for me was the visit of the interior. Since it was summer and the royals were in town there was no danger of anything being closed off to us as all the politicians were on break. All the pictures below are panoramic and can be clicked to enlarge.

The House of Commons has a green motif, likely as a throwback to the times when people would meet in the village square. At the back is a viewing gallery where the public and press can sit and watch when the house is in session. This is where our elected representatives endlessly butt heads.

 Below is the library with its huge selection of books. Each shelf has a provincial crest on it, and there's a statue of Queen Victoria in the middle since she was monarch at the time the library was constructed and since people seem to like wedging her likeness into pretty much everywhere. The most expensive book in there is apparently one of Audobons books of birds with original paintings.

 The senate is more regal and red than the house of commons and the walls are decorated with paintings commemorating the First World War. Again there is a viewing gallery at the back. The senate is appointed rather than elected and seems to primarily maintain the status quo to stop whatever party is in power from changing things too much and to take on real issues.

The Gargoyles of Parliament Hill

 Like any good gothic structure, the buildings on Parliament Hill are quite covered in gargoyles and grotesques of all sorts, both inside and out. The sunlight was more ideal than the dim interior lighting (I am pretty sure Harper would be destroyed by direct sunlight anyways) so they're all exterior pieces below but the inside stuff was very nice too. If you look at our previous post you can just make out 4 of these guys at each corner of the top of the Peace Tower.

 Not every piece is an 8-foot protruding epic either, this little dog/fish was only a few feet across with a little dragon opposite him by some of the archways at the ground level. Most of the smaller pieces were unique and unrepeated as well, making the hunt for their various faces all the more enjoyable.

 The crest of Canada was done up at the front gate with the lion on the left and the unicorn below on the right. I particularly like its dropped jaw and protruding tongue. Infact, looking at this image and the one above makes me think that most of the gargoyles posing for the building are actually just teenagers feel awkward about having their photos taken.

Parliament Hill

 Canada may not have many castles (as we have already lamented) but we have some pretty spectacular parliament buildings all across the country, and the gothic ones in Ottawa are no exception. Most of the original parliament buildings were actually destroyed in a fire in 1916 and had to be rebuilt.

 The main surviving structure from the original parliament buildings was the library, which was saved from the fire by a particularly quick librarian that managed to close some enormous doors and keep the worst of the fire from spreading to there. As any librarians will no doubt appreciate, fire is bad in a room full of books.

 The Peace Tower is the central tower at the front of the building and is worthy of a closer look. While the outside is dotted with gothic gargoyles of all types, just below the clock you can see a row of windows. There is an interior tour available that takes you to an observation deck above the bells. This includes a chance to see the Memorial Chamber which contains books listing all the names of soliders killed in Canadas wars since the First World War. Every day one of the guards turns the pages in each book so that every soldiers name has one day a year facing up to be remembered.

Forgetting anything?

Since we were spending over a month away this summer in Piedmont/Quebec City/Ottawa we had to pack quite a few things and started on it early to be sure we didn't get halfway to the airport and then realize we didn't pack any pants. The downside of starting early is that you are essentially building a box full of soft things for any domesticated mooches in your home.

 I came home from work a few days before we set out to find Kathryn in tears because Kodiak had arranged himself in the luggage. If you're willing to anthropomorphize your pets a little bit then you start thinking that maybe they understand you're leaving and want to be sure that they are prepared too. I personally believe he was just finding a new cozy spot, but its entirely possible that he's an even more manipulative git then I would give him credit for.

 Regardless of his motives and our abandoning him, he's always very affectionate for the few days after we get back from any adventure and is very good about forgiving us for leaving him and making friends again.

Hopefully he doesn't catch wind of our next trip TOO early ;)

Walruses

 We enjoy aquariums wherever we go and Quebec City happens to have one that boasts walruses, a creature neither of us had seen and both of us really wanted to. There are two subspecies: the Atlantic and Pacific. Though both breeds were on display there, I would honestly be hard-pressed to tell them apart.

 Not only were they visible in their tank, but there was a pretty fun walrus show to be seen as well. Since walruses are largely blobs with flippers, their trainers communicate encouragement and praise to them through high fives, which I found delightful. Aside from just being neat to see out of the water, the show had them rolling on their backs and sides and blowing kisses which let us see a pretty full range of motion.

 As any Jurassic Park fan knows, the T-Rex in the film was part walrus call and the show featured a selection of walrus vocalizations including that trademark roar.

As keen-eyed readers may have noticed, these walruses lack tusks. Since they are mostly used to forage in the mud and haul out on ice, neither of which are done in aquariums, their tusks had been removed a few years ago to prevent injuries between the animals and reduce damage to their enclosure. They also all had red eyes as the chlorine in the water irritates them and people have yet to find a balance between comfort and cleanliness in their tanks.