Galapagos Islands - ECUADOR

A life long dream is coming true!! Greetings from the island of Santa Cruz, part of the famous Galapagos Islands --- 1000km west of the Ecuador coast. Day after tomorrow I am leaving on an 8-day cruise around the islands to check out all the animals and swim with sea lions. Best thing here is that the birds and animals dont fear humans so you can get very close to them. Famous inhabitants here are the huge and old land tortoises, the large marine iguanas, marine turtles, lava lizards, fur seals, sharks, Sally-Lightfoot crabs, sea lions, dolphins, and a multitude of bird species including the pelicans, flightless cormorants, albatross, finches, red and blue footed boobies, frigats, penguins, etc.

A true animal lovers paradise -- I am in heaven.

UPDATED FEB. 17TH
I´m back in Quito on the Ecuadorian mainland. The 11 days on the Galapagos Islands was one of most amazing experiences of my life. The first three days I explored Santa Cruz island and spent an entire afternoon on a new friend´s farm walking with several gigantic tortoises -- many older than 100 years! Spent 8 days on a yacht, cruising between the islands. We mostly sailed at night, some nights only 4 hours and other nights up to 7 hours. Where else in the world can you swim with a huge colony of sea lions -- some coming so close to my face I can feel their whiskers, then I rub their bellies and they return for more! Where else can you walk up as close as 1 meter or closer to wild marine iguanas, land iguanas, hawks, lizards, all kinds of birds (including frigates and blue footed boobies) and gigantic tortoises! Animals on the Galapagos have absolutely no fear of humans - this is what makes these islands so truly amazing!! I will never ever forget my most wonderful close encounters with these animals, and my 950 awesome pics will help to keep the memories fresh for life!

Monday morning I am flying up to Coca and then by boat deep into the Amazon jungle for 5 days.

Adios!