Galapagos & Peru pictures

jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
I recently returned from almost a month in South America with family, and thought I'd share what I thought were some of the better pictures captured.

Equipment was a Sony A7Rm2, with 16-35 zeiss and 24-70GM E-mount lenses, and an adapted A-mount 70-400 for tele. This is my first time travelling with full-frame glass, and it is a big change from the crop-size E-mount stuff I'd been used to in the past. Looking at the results however, I'm pretty glad I did lug it along.

The first leg of the trip was visiting the Galapagos starting with Genovesa and Fernandina Islands, where you can walk right up to Frigate birds, Blue and Red Footed Boobies and others - they have no fear of humans and go righ on about their business so it is a great opportunity to see them doing their thing.















More to come...
 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
Marine Iguanas - they've evolved not only to swim, but have a salt gland that allows them to consume seawater. Endemic to Galapagos:





Sally Lightfoot Crab (these were everywhere)



Flightless Cormorant - another species exclusive to the Galapagos and returning from the brink of extinction:









Yellow Warbler



Galapagos Mockingbird



Galapagos Tortoise:

 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
When asked by a coworker what I most was looking forward to seeing in the Galapagos, I answered "Boobies!". By the shocked silence, I think I was misunderstood.

One of the coolest animals in the Galapagos is the Blue Footed Booby:





Somewhat rarer is the Red Footed Booby. They're much harder to photograph, as they nest in trees as opposed to the Blue Footed, who we found everywhere and even a few nesting right in the middle of a trail:



This Sea Lion was curious about our snorkels.



After a week of cruising around the Galapagos, it was time to head to Peru. First to Cusco, then off to the Valley of the Inca and Machu Picchu followed by another week cruising the upper Amazon...
 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
Thanks for the kind comments!

It was definitely a bucket-list-worthy trip - if you're even a little into wildlife, the Galapagos is a must-see. We did the trip through National Geographic, and one of the benefits was having their Naturalists as guides (Ecuadorian law requires that you visit accompanied by a licensed guide). Having the Nat Geo angle on things made it much more interesting, as they were able to give perspective on the evolutionary differences between the islands and how it led Darwin to the Origin of the Species and so on.

Anyhow, the next leg of the trip was a visit to the (Peruvian) Sacred Valley of the Inca, including Machu Picchu.

Flying from Sea-level to Cusco at over 11,000 feet definitely messes with you. The locals say that the coca leaf tea helps:



It actually does seem to help with symptoms that come with altitude, and doesn't actually taste half bad.

Fortified, on to the Moray Inca ruins:



More Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo

The quality of the stonework is amazing, even now, you couldn't slip a sheet of paper in between the stones:







There were a ton of these tuk-tuk style cabs in Peru:



Next up, Machu Picchu. The site looks pretty big in pictures, but even more so when you walk through the city. The scope of what it took to build it is unimaginable.











More to come...
 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
Side trip to Awana Kancha, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the methods of making traditional textiles from vikuna and alpaca hair.









 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
kevin 714 said:
good stuff. those stone walls are epic
Click to expand...

What's truly amazing to me is that they did it all by hand without any form of written language or drawing as we understand it. The precision of those cuts is incredible. And there's more than meets the eye, as many of the stones are cut tongue and groove style, to withstand earthquakes.

Mike95060 said:
Soooooo how do I go do this ? Thank you for posting!
Click to expand...

http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/galapagos-cruise/detail :thumbup

You can book your own travel there, and there are local outfits, but you must have a guide with you to visit any of the park areas (which is most of the islands), so we opted to go the Nat Geo route.
 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
Back in Cusco, we led off with a visit to the San Pedro market. While not really a touristy place, it was a great look into how the locals shopped.

I'm told that there are over 4,000 varieties of potatoes in Peru:



A weekday crowd:




I'm pretty sure there are enough parts there to reassemble the animal. Mmmmm, grilled face.



In the booth of a vendor that sells potions and charms, Ekeko, the Andean god of prosperity. The bulls are seen on the roof of many houses as a good luck charm:





 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top