tame wildlife

When I travel, I like to walk into various types of museums to appreciate the paintings, sculptures and other art forms. When I travel, I like to explore churches and cathedrals to experience the architecture, stained glass, art and spirituality. When I travel, I like to visit people and events to understand the cultures of a country.

Blue-Footed Boobies

But for my latest travel, I wanted something completely different. I wanted to go to a place where there weren’t any museums, churches or people. I wanted to go to a place where the land and environment was in its natural form, and where the inhabitants were free to live as nature intended.

Galapagos Doves, Mockingbird, Yellow Warbler

I wanted to observe wildlife, lots of wildlife, whose existence has been relatively untouched by humans, whose presence sparked ideas in Charles Darwin about theories of evolution and natural selection, and whose home belongs to them.

Such a place is the Galapagos Islands.

Marine and Galapagos Land Iguanas

What I found wonderful about visiting the Galapagos Islands was not only that was I able to observe the wildlife, lots of wildlife, that I wanted to, but the wildlife was actually tame. Yes, that’s right, tame wildlife. (Isn’t that an oxymoron?) The mammals, reptiles, and birds that I saw did not scurry off when I, or another human, came close.

Adult and Baby Frigatebirds

In fact, the animals seemed quite oblivious that I was even there. I could be walking down a designated human path, and an animal would be standing, or sitting, or exhibiting some behavior within just a few feet of me. It was amazing! The mammals didn’t swim off, the reptiles didn’t crawl away, and the birds didn’t take flight!

Brown Pelican, Large Ground-Finch, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

It was as if I could get up close and personal with the fauna of the Galapagos Islands. Although, I had to observe a few rules – I had to please stay at least two meters (about six feet) from any animal; please don’t touch and don’t feed them; and please walk in between the white poles on the designated human paths. And I incorporated the rules that I live by when I’m out in my own nature walking – leave only footprints, and take only pictures.

Nazca Boobies

And believe me, I took plenty of pictures! Believe it or not, I took around 1450 photos in the Galapagos! Yes, 1450! (Not to mention the 120 that I took while I was in Quito, Ecuador for a day before my Galapagos expedition.)

Adult and Baby Giant Tortoise

Please stay with me for my next blog, where I will expand on my photography and what specifically inspired all of my pictures. Obviously it was the tame wildlife that created plenty of photo opportunities, but it was also so much more. Then I will begin to feature one specific tame wildlife in future blogs, including, but not limited to, and not necessarily all of, the following list of tame wildlife that I encountered:

Mommy and Baby Galapagos Sea Lion, and a Pilot Whale

Blue-Footed Boobies
Red-Footed Boobies
Nazca Boobies
Galapagos Sea Lions
Galapagos Fur Seals
Giant Tortoises
Pacific Green Sea Turtles
Galapagos Penguins & Waved Albatross (yes, I did see those)
Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds
Marine Iguanas
Galapagos Land Iguanas
Lava Lizards
Yellow-Crowned Night Herons
Galapagos Sea Lions
Sally Lightfoot Crabs and Sand Crabs
Brown Pelicans
Many colorful fish and some sharks
Various Darwin Finches
Galapagos Hawks
Galapagos Doves
Mockingbirds
Swallow-Tailed Gulls
Yellow Warblers
A red Vermillion Flycatcher
American Oystercatchers
Audubon’s Shearwaters
A Red-Billed Tropicbird
A mouse, a few grasshoppers, and a centipede
Did I mention Sea Lions?
Did I mention Iguanas?
Did I mention Boobies?
Several other land and shore birds
A Dolphin and a large pod of Pilot Whales

Red-Footed Boobies, Swallow-Tailed Gull, Oystercatcher

Sweet Travels!

All photos by Debby