While most my photography has been avian so far, this trip to the Galapagos has changed my interest in subject matter. Thus I have created galleries with avian, reptile, mammals and landscape images. These islands offer such unique scenery that I have tried to include the habitat as much as I can. I am glad I brought wide-angle lenses to this trip and left home my 500mm lens. While I could have made use of that lens in more than one instance, a 300mm lens was a good compromise. Landing on these islands on a panga, a small boat, with heavy equipment can be an issue. Note that park rules prohibit the use of flash. On the positive side most species are quite tame and accessible. While I stayed at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of San Cristobal, it was quite clear that sea lions own the sea side including the walkways in the malecon.

Below is the equipment I used for this trip:

While Galapagos doen not have the biodiversity richness that rain forests have, a significant percentage of their species are endemic. That is, they have a low number of species and a high number of endemics. A total of 152 bird species have been recorded in these islands. Only 61 of these are residents but 28 of them are endemic. An additional 16 species are endemic subspecies. Thus 44 of the 61 birds commonly seen here are endemics to these islands!