I’m back from vacation and starting to sort through my photos.

(December 1, 2 & 8) San Cristóbal Island is the main entry point to the Galapagos, with an airport and a small port (Puerto Baquerizo Moreno) which is the starting point for most tour boats.

Like all the islands it has large piles of volcanic rocks. The islands are home to a wide variety of seabirds like this pelican.


Large colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs cover the rocks near the shore.

Marine iguanas sun themselves on the rocks.

If you look closely you can find little lava lizards also sunning themselves.

The cool sea breezes generally take the edge off the hot equatorial sun, but this is no place to forget your sunblock.

Beaches attract numerous sea lions. Large males stake out the good beaches where the females want to raise their young and swim back and forth in front of the beach barking loudly to warn off other males.

Here at the equator the sea lions reproduce year round.

Like most of the animals the sea lions are totally unafraid of humans. It is important not to step on them because they can rip a big chunk out of your leg.

The other risk is that a male might think you are trying to horn in on his territory. They look pretty lazy but they can move surprisingly fast on land.

Ghost crabs stay close to small holes that they have dug in the sand. If you approach they will quickly dive into the hole and cover themselves with sand, hence the name.

Yellow warblers are among the few songbirds native to the islands.

Red-footed and blue-footed boobies nest near the shore. Though they look comical on land they are amazing diving birds, dropping out the sky like a bomb and plunging into the water.

Large frigate birds soar over the ocean. They look magnificent in flight but they are not good at diving. They prefer to wait until a booby comes up with its catch, then swoop down and grab the booby and shake it to make it disgorge its meal.

Someone was having a bad day.

A homeless sea lion sleeps on a park bench.

All posts from this trip.