Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 26/08/16)

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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added

Post by DexterPunk »

Probably still a bit young. It's often huge days of much walking. I was tempted to type "DO ITTT!!!" Though. :D

Who knows though, I imagine I could be convinced pretty easily to go again a few more years after that if you ended up going.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added

Post by DexterPunk »

This had to be rescheduled. In fact it looked as if it wasn't going to be happening. But it looks like a group of us are going to go in 2016. Gives me a chance to save up the money, and my housemate a chance to finish his uni degree. Sadly the mate of mine who I met there the first time, and kept in contact with, has died in a kayaking accident. It's quite sad, he had planned to visit myself and Kelly here in Australia and see the sights next year. And he was likely going to be in Galapagos again with me. I guess at least he died doing something he loved.

Durbs, one extra year, he'll be six. Plenty of time to learn to be able to swim with Sea Lions :D
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added

Post by Nigel »

Some amazing shots dex. Well done.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added

Post by DexterPunk »

Haha thanks Nige. They were posted yonks ago.


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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by DexterPunk »

Galápagos round 2 is officially booked!! Can't wait!!
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by DexterPunk »

At this stage. Looks like I'll be heading to Santiago first and spending a few days there. Down south to Patagonia to explore the national parks and glaciers. Then north to Buenos Aires... Meant to be a wonderful city to explore. Then up to Iguazu falls. Seems to be a must do in that area, so may as well go see it. After that it's on to Quito, Ecuador and finish up the trip in Galapagos.

Part of me feels like it's crazy to do it again. But I think I'm going to love sharing it with my girlfriend and mum. And I'm doing a lot different stuff around South America than last time.

Every day in Galapagos last time was massively rewarding. Even if we were going out to see the same animals as we'd already seen, there was always something unique and different that we got to see. I think it will be just as mind blowing the second time around. I can't wait.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by DexterPunk »

3 Months to go. Jesus it's coming up fast.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by DexterPunk »

Everything now paid for. Leaving in 51 days! Woot!!


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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by durbster »

Awesome. You bastard. :D
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by TIMMY30 »

Wow.. i cant even afford to do a west coast usa trip. Let alone a galapagos trip.
Good on you Dex. Keep us posted mate!
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by DexterPunk »

Durbs ya gotta get there some day. Cheers guys.

Timmy it's taken about a year and a half of saving to get the money together. I'm certainly not rich. I just kinda booked it, and committed myself... I had to make it happen after that. I find it's the only way to actually make these trips happen. Book it, then work it out. You find a way because you have to.

I guess the not having kids or a mortgage makes it more doable for me. I've pretty much been in a constant state of saving for an adventure since about 2010. I still have a lot on my list I want to do as well.

There will be a shit load of photos posted here when I return no doubt, and I'll do a decent write up.




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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by TIMMY30 »

Amen. Kids and debt are keeping me well and truly grounded lol. Look forward to hearing all about it :)
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (Many Photos added)

Post by DexterPunk »

So I've been back for a while now, and it's taken me till now to get around to organising some of the photos.

After the long flight and overcoming jet lag we settled in to our surroundings in Santiago, Chile. Not a bad city, but I think one thing i've learnt this time away is that major cities don't really interest me a hell of a lot. I took a few photos around Santiago, but nothing really of interest. I guess it's different when you're in an Asian city which is so full of intriguing culture. Anyway after Santiago we split up, my girlfriend (Lisa) wanted to see Peru and Machu Picchu, and I'd already been there. She was happy to travel there alone, and had a great time and met people along the way. Mum and I had decided on Patagonia. So after a few days in Santiago we all went to the airport and went off on our different adventures.

I have to say, Patagonia blew me away. At times, I actually forgot I was going there. It sounds weird, but after planing this trip for over a year sometimes you forget bits and pieces that you're going to be doing. It almost felt like Patagonia was a bit of a filler before we made our way to Galapagos. But it was anything but a filler. If I could have changed anything about this trip, I would have organised to have more time there. We were only there for about 6 nights, but I loved every second of it. If I went back, I'd take the time to look up more walking trails etc, and rent my own car to get around. There actually are some pretty sketchy places around South America, but Patagonia really isn't one of them. Very safe, lots of stops and things to see, and generally really easy to get around. It reminds me a little bit like rural Australia. Except with snow capped mountains and glaciers instead of deserts and gorges.

Here's some pics from Patagonia in both Chile and Argentina. More pics to come.

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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 09/07/16)

Post by TIMMY30 »

Wow. Those landscapes are amazing. Some great pics there bud!
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 09/07/16)

Post by Enforcer-J »

actual awesome shots
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 09/07/16)

Post by DexterPunk »

Thanks heaps Timmy and En-J. I've kinda looked at them too much, and I've started to feel like they are lacking a bit. Good to know others enjoy them!

After our awesome time exploring Patagonia, we flew north to Buenos Aires. If i'm honest, I didn't care for it. I'd heard a lot of good things, but I struggled to enjoy the place. It was difficult to find good food, apart from one famous pizzeria we went to that has been running for over 80 years. The pizza there was just amazing! Another night, after pouring over trip advisor and other websites on where to eat, we decided on the Sheraton hotel. It was actually really good, but we certainly paid for it! We tried countless small cafes and restaurants and were left disappointed every time. We really do have it good in Australia when it comes to good food. The other positive to come out of Buenos Aires was a leather jacket purchase. I've been on the search for something classic for a couple of years, and managed to find a really good manufacturer there. Very impressed with the quality, and still love it after a couple of months back home. But anyway, I wouldn't hurry back to Buenos Aires, and didn't really take many photos there either.

It's only a short flight to the jungle area of Iguazu, still in Argentina, but on the border with Brazil. I was so happy when we arrived to our accomodation, having spent every night in Buenos Aires in shitty rooms, a lift that wouldn't stop beeping all night, and windows that barely did anything to stop the city/traffic noise. It was amazing to be back in the wilderness. This place was just awesome, it was pretty much a resort in the middle of the jungle. We had giant bungalows, swimming pools (there were like 3 attached to each other), winding paths amongst the jungle that you could spend time just exploring and walking around, and the main lounge area of the place even had a giant open fire place for night time when it cooled down.

Iguazu falls are freaking huge, and being the largest waterfalls system in the world, you'd kind of expect that. But you're not really prepared for it when you actually see it. After the first day seeing the falls and walking around the extensive walkways, we had a nights rest, and went back again but this time on the Brazilian side. Even in that short time, i'd forgotten how damn big they were. It's also really difficult to photograph and give any sense of what it's like. A lot of the time the falls are all around you, and it makes it difficult to capture. Even shooting sections of the falls is hard because you often lose sense of scale in the images. I took heaps of photos, but I only ended up with these 7 that I thought were worth while sharing. In no way does that reflect what the place is like. It's just stunning.



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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 09/07/16)

Post by Nigel »

Awesome
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 09/07/16)

Post by DexterPunk »

We flew out of the small Brazilian airport at Iguazu towards Lima, Peru where we would transfer to a flight to Quito, Ecuador. In Lima we found Lisa and got to hear about all her stories around Peru. She loved it! I knew she was enjoying it as we stayed in touch using the facebook messenger app on wifi, but it wasn't every day and I have to admit I got worried when I hadn't heard from her in a few days. But all good aside from a minor hiccup with a transfer (the company compensated her with a meal at a fancy restaurant). We bought some overpriced airport food, and I bought a silly alpaca wool hat that I wished I had of got last time I was in Peru. There was possibly a bomb scare, everyone was cleared out of a few of the gates while dogs and officers moved in on... something. It's hard to really know what's going on sometimes when you don't speak much Spanish. I kinda felt like I was becoming an expert and got cocky ordering a couple of bottles of water in their language, complete with a "muchos gracias señor" thrown in at the end. But really I had no idea when something actually important was being said. It all dispersed and we eventually left for Quito and all arrived pretty exhausted. It was a long day, and we pretty much went straight to bed. The next morning I could definitely feel the altitude having an impact on me. Strange as I didn't notice it last time at all. Quito is probably not a place I'd recommend going to unless you are heading to Galapagos. There are some interesting areas to see, but it's quite a dangerous place. A lot of areas have signs up telling tourists to stay away. I didn't take my DSLR out around this place, so the few shots I did take were on the little Sony RX100m3. Still I think it did a good job.

Just a few pics of Quito before I get stuck into the Galapagos side of things.



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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 10/07/16)

Post by Shonky »

Fantastic shots Dex!
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 10/07/16)

Post by Quincy »

Yep, great shots mate.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 10/07/16)

Post by DexterPunk »

Thanks guys. I really need to make a photo book with some of the better ones I think. Many more to come from the islands, just so many to sort through and edit.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 10/07/16)

Post by DexterPunk »

There's a lot to write about and a lot of photos as well. I'll try and keep both to a bit of a minimum. To be honest, I could probably write a couple of paragraphs for each individual day, you just cram so much in to those 15 days. For those that haven't read about the last time I went (I'm actually not sure I wrote about it anyway) it's 15 days inside the national park, which basically covers the whole archipelago. As far as I'm aware, that's still the longest you're allowed to be in the national park unless you're a resident or researcher etc. They try to minimise the amount of tourism there at any one time, while also needing the tourism to maintain the conservation work and research. You can't stay on any of the islands of interest. There's two islands that you can stay on, which are already inhabited, but there isn't a huge amount to see. Some people try and see the islands this way... Stay in accomodation, and take 1-2 day tours out to one of the islands. You won't get to see a lot doing it this way, you'd waste so many days and often you wouldn't land on each island early enough, or stay late enough. By staying on a boat the whole time, and travelling at night, means you can be on the islands not long after sun rise, and see the animals when they are most active. The weather there is very hot and often humid, and you often find the wildlife is trying to keep cool and much less active during the heat of the day. Generally our itinerary was something like: Wake up about 5am. Breakfast at 5:15. on to an island at 6:00. Back around 8:00 (fresh fruits and juice etc waiting). Off for a snorkel from the Dinghies at 8:20. Back on board the boat at about 10 (snacks waiting again). Lunch around 12. Bit of break time till about 2pm. Either a dinghy ride around cliff edges, or mangrove estuaries etc, or a second snorkel (all depends on location/conditions). Back on board at around 3:30-4pm. And on to do a final island walk at 4:30pm. Back on board at 6pm. Dinner at around 6:30pm. Lecture time at about 7:30. And finally a briefing for the following day at about 8pm. Usually that contains the types of animals you're likely to see, what shoes are needed, whether or not you're doing a dry or wet landing, and perhaps some lens advise or similar. There really isn't a lot of down time, and it really only feels like you can see it properly with 15 days. I actually wonder how much people get out of it with a few days there. You wouldn't get to experience the varied island landscapes or even all the main types of wildlife the area has to offer. Even on a day where you feel like you have seen it all before, something seems to always happen. Something spectacular that makes you wonder why you ever doubted it's awesomeness. The more chances you give yourself, the more chance you have of seeing something special.

The boat I stayed on was the same as last time. Tip Top IV. There was 16 passengers on the boat, and about 11 crew. It's a good size group to share the experience with, you seem to always get to know the other people really well, more so than other group tours i've been on, and you seem to come home with a really odd feeling that you have made some true friends that you're likely to never meet again. They provide two guides with each tour, most only have a single guide for this many people. And often on boats of 100 people. But having two experts there with you means you can always find out information, and it also means they don't have to be quite as worried about keeping you all together during walks. This time I had two new guides, Etienne and Elizabeth. They are a husband and wife team. Amazingly knowledgable, like my guides last time. They were both born in the Galapagos, however Etienne spent a lot of years in Belgium growing up. They have both now been guides in the Galapagos for over 30 years. They seem to be able to answer literally any question on galapagos flora or fauna, the lectures each night are truly insightful and not just like watching Attenborough's Galapagos, which is wonderful, but it's really just an overview in comparison.I really can't say enough about the company, or the guides that help to provide such an amazing experience.

Ok I'll shut up now, and post some pics. There's one bird in this lot that had never been seen in the Galapagos before, well, at least seen and documented. Etienne almost fell out of the dinghy when he saw it. He's been writing a book on Galapagos birds and asked me for my shots, so hopefully it ends up in the book. It's called a Black Crowned Night Heron.


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Frigate Birds

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Blue footed booby dance

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Frigate bird

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Sea Lion

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Flock of Boobies

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Black Necked Stilt

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Black Necked Stilt

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Marine Iguana

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Oystercatchers

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Oystercatcher

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Brown Pelican

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Brown Pelican

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Brown Pelican & Humans

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Land Iguana

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Land Iguana

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Baby Sea Lion

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Sea Lion

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Yellow Worbler

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Swallow tailed gulls

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Galapagos Hawk

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Galapagos Hawk

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Galapagos Hawk

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Galapagos Flycatcher

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Hermit Crab

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Female Vermillion Flycatcher (maybe)


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Marine Iguanas

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Brown Pelican

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Brown Pelican

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Brown Pelican

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Black Crowned Night Heron

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Black Crowned Night Heron

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Sea Lion

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Yellow Warbler

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Brown Pelican trying to eat a Surgeon fish

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Brown Pelican trying to eat a Surgeon fish

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Brown Pelican trying to eat a Surgeon fish

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Kicker Rock

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Me + Kicker Rock

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Brown Pelican

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Dragonfly

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Yellow Warbler

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Blue Footed Boobies

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Blue Footed Boobies

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Blue Footed Boobies

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Blue Footed Booby

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Blue Footed Boobies

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Sea Lions

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Lava Lizard

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Blue Footed Boobies @ Punta Pitt

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Juvenile Nazca Booby

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Baby Booby

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Blow Hole

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Albatross

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Albatross

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Nazca Boobies

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Albatross

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Albatross

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Albatross

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Albatross

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Blue Footed Booby

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Painted Bill Crake

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Giant Tortoise

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Yellow Worbler with lunch

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Yellow Worbler

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Brown Pelican

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Great Blue Heron

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Brown Pelican

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Juvenile Striated Heron

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Yellow Crowned Night Heron

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Yellow Crowned Night Heron

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Marine Iguana

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Young Sea Lions fighting

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Sea Lions - Mum and pup

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Brown Pelican

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Dinghy Ride

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Sea Turtle

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Common Dolphin

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Medium Tree Finch

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Yellow Warbler having a bath

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Fur Seal

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Yellow Crowned Night Heron

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Marine Iguana

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Marine Iguana

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Yellow Warbler

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Sally Lightfoot Crab (Juvenile)

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Santiago Island, Galapagos

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Nazca Booby

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Short-eared Owl

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Mockingbird

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Baby Booby

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Frigate Birds

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Male Frigate Bird

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Male Frigate Bird

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Tropic Bird

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Short-eared Owl

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Red Footed Booby

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Red Footed Booby

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Lord Commander Frigate Bird



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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 16/07/16)

Post by VTRacing »

Wow.
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 16/07/16)

Post by Shonky »

I'll be the first to say it, great boobie shots Dex!
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Re: Galápagos islands and South America - (New pics added 16/07/16)

Post by DexterPunk »

Haha gotta love some good lookin boobie shots!

Cheers guys.


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