Nannie RaRa

Galapagos adventure – Santa Fe

9th Sep 20239th Sep 2023 Nannie RaRa

The next day we went for a walk on Santa Fe Island. It is not a very high island but it was very hot. Santa Fe has many mature prickly cacti, some a hundred years old, as they don’t have many predators eating them – apart from a few iguanas.

There were many sea lions on the beach – we encountered them on all our landings.

We also saw the Galapagos hawk and several mocking birds.

We saw Santa Fe land iguanas, both male and female – the male being the larger. As they walked along, they clicked their heads.

They even walked between us as we stood there, and watched us as we watched them eating.

We did some more snorkelling at Santa Fe, then went for a walk round Santa Cruz Sur – this time it was a dry landing. Here were land iguanas and Nasca boobies.

Again the landscape was different.

There were several Nazca boobies along the cliff.

Swallow-tailed gulls had made their nest there are were rearing their young.

There were lava lizards and land iguanas here as well.

We saw a land iguana standing on its hind legs to reach and eat a prickly pear cactus.

Previous: Galapagos adventure – San Cristobel

Next: Galapagos adventure – Santa Cruz

nature, Travel

Galapagos adventure – Mosquera Islet

9th Sep 20239th Sep 2023 Nannie RaRa

What an experience! I have just returned from a visit to the Galapagos islands and would say to everyone – do go and see the marvellous wildlife.

I spent six days on board MS Santa Cruz II, a Hurtigruten expedition. There were only fourteen guests, so we had an exceptional time.

We landed at Baltra airport. We had to hand over our Transit Control Card (TCC) – cost $20. Our carry-on luggage was x-rayed and checked that we were not bringing any fruit or seeds into the Galapagos. One-use plastics are also banned there. We also had to pay the Galapagos National Park entrance fee of $100. Our hold luggage was subject to a K9 inspection – a dog sniffed it all to check for contraband.

Then we left the airport to get on our coach. Outside were cactus and tropical plants and in among them our first encounter with iguanas. Two were just sitting there basking in the heat and a third was wandering around.

A ten-minute bus ride and we boarded a panga to go out to our ship. No sooner had we arrived at our ship and had our safety briefing, then we left for our first landing, on Mosquera Islet. Ahead of us was a long white beach. We went by panga and had a wet landing where we paddled to get on shore.

All visitors to Galapagos must be accompanied by a certified naturalist guide, and our one was so knowledgeable and answered all our questions.

On the beach were sea lions, having a nap or just lying there ignoring us. There was a pelican by the edge of the shore fishing, sally light-foot crabs on the rocks, lava lizards hot-footing it on the sand, and a marine iguana lying on a log.

None of the animals and birds were concerned about us, they didn’t run away as we got close. We had to stay two metres away from them but sometimes they would approach us.

As well as the pelican we saw frigate birds and the red-billed tropic bird – a beautiful white bird with a long, long tail. Later on, we spotted a yellow warbler on the sand near to a whale skeleton.

A wonderful start to our Galapagos adventure.

Next: Galapagos adventure – San Cristobel

nature

Red-tailed bumblebee

14th Aug 2023 Nannie RaRa

A queen red-tailed bumblebee decided to dig a hole in the garden. It was interesting to watch the bee disappear down the hole then crawl out backwards bringing some dirt with it. The hole must have been quite deep as it took a while for the bee to appear again.

I’ll have to keep watch to see if anything else happens.

nature

Sparrowhawk

21st Jul 2023 Nannie RaRa

The other day there were piles of feathers in the garden. I thought maybe a sparrowhawk had caught a pigeon. I cleared the feathers up.

Then today, I heard a magpie shouting from the garden. When I looked there was the sparrowhawk sitting on top of a pigeon. It started the process of plucking the feathers ready to get to the inside to eat.

I decided to try and take a video of the scene. This was taken through the kitchen window on a Panasonic Lumix camera.

painting

Watercolour paintings

28th Jun 2023 Nannie RaRa

Lately I’ve been doing watercolour painting after a break when I couldn’t find the inspiration to pick up a brush. I’ve been out with my camera taking photos, then turning them into paintings.

I’ve found the more I paint, the better my technique becomes. Each picture has something I think I’ve done well and lots of places where I could improve.

Here are a few of the paintings.

This painting of people on the beach was inspired after doing a jigsaw puzzle of the four seasons of Peter Brueghel the Younger. I like all the characters in his paintings.

This painting is of a disused railway building. The area around it has been turned into a beautiful community garden tended by volunteers. I enjoyed painting the building and I feel shadows and depth are improving.

This painting is of a boy walking on a bridge over a stream near where I live. Whenever I walk past the stream the bridge is always in a different place, moved by the local children.

This painting of a man walking his dog on a path through the trees is one of my favourites. I particularly like the simplicity of it. Quite often I’ll overdo things.

I often see dog walkers on my early morning walks. These ladies had been walking their dogs and stopped to have a chat. I like the way their poses are similar, and that all three dogs are watching me.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these paintings. Do let me know what you think.