Round The World Trip 2006

Most albatrosses live in the storm-lashed southern oceans and they rarely cross the equator. One remarkable species, the Waved Albatross nests on Espanola Island in the Galapagos and is the only species of albatross that breeds in the tropics. Waved Albatross pair for life and after months at sea alone they return to Espanola Island where pair bonds must be re-established. This involves an elaborate ritual of complex movements, sky-pointing and bill-circling etc. The smallest island we visited was South Plaza Island on Day 6. The Plaza Islands (there are 2 of them - North and South) lie off the east coast of Santa Cruz Island. South Plaza island is the smallest island we visited measuring only 500m x 100m in size. It is the home to the Swallow-tailed Gull pictured below. This bird is the world's only nocturnal gull and again, is endemic to the Galapagos Islands. Not just the last picture of this collection but also the last picture I took in the Galapagos Islands. It was sunset on ...

Day 4 saw us arrive at Isabela Island which is the largest island in the Galapagos archipelago. We rode horses up into the highlands to the Sierra Negra crater - 1 of 5 active volcanoes on this island. The crater is absolutely enormous - 11km around the perimeter, so I believe, and is also the most volcanically active in the Galapagos. It erupts approximately once every 2 years and last erupted 6 months ago in early 2006. We stayed about an hour on the rim, eating lunch, before returning back the way we came. Notice the huge amounts of petrified lava behind me. Once cooled, the lava is extremely porous and thus very light. It is also incredibly sharp and cuts footwear to shreds! There are seven species of Lava Lizard in the Galapagos Islands and you often find yourself stepping over the things as they bask on the rocks and logs along the path. Females are generally smaller and have bright red or orange throats like this one. One of the most striking birds in the Galapagos Islands is th...

The Galapagos Mockingbird is one of the boldest, most inquisite creatures on the islands. They follow people around with a curiosity matched only by the sealions. Better singers than the sealions though! Another of the main attractions on the islands are undoubtedly the Giant Tortoises. These creatures come bounding over, all playful like young puppies. No, I'm joking of course. They just sort of sit and eat grass and look bewildered at why they're the centre of attention. They can live to be 180 years old, by the way. The Vermillion Flycatcher is an unmistakable bird that lives in the highlands where the tortoises live. Infact, I photographed this particular bird sitting on the back of a tortoise before he flew off to catch a moth. He flew back to a nearby tree to eat his meal which is the picture below. Another bird that's easily seen is the Yellow Warbler. It looks like a canary and is found on most of the islands. This one is taking a bath in a small pool.

Marine Iguanas are another endemic species. When they first arrived on the Galapagos Islands there was a lack of vegetation so they had to eat the algae which occurs on the rocks along the coastline inorder to survive. Over time they evolved to the point where they now swim about in the sea and can hold their breath for an hour whilst they cling to the rocks underwater and feed. As a cold-blooded creature the Marine Iguana needs to heat itself up in the sun before it is able to survive any length of time in the sea hence the fact that most of the time they can be seen basking in the sun on the rocks around the shoreline. The colourful Sally-Lightfoot Crab is another creature commonly spotted along the shoreline. You need an iron grip to withstand the currents and waves when getting in or out of the water! The land Iguana came to the Galapagos Islands after the Marine Iguana and also after the arrival of vegetation so it never needed to evolve into a seagoing reptile. It mainly feeds on...

Most of the animals and birds found here are endemic to the Galapagos Islands - they can be found nowhere else on earth. Those that can be found elsewhere are often a different subspecies to those found in the Galapagos. For instance, the sealions here are a seperate subspecies known as 'Galapagos Sealions'; the penguins are 'Galapagos Penguins' etc. Incidentally, the Galapagos Penguin is the world's only tropical penguin. Every other species of penguin lives in the Antarctic or thereabouts, except the Galapagos Penguin which lives on the tropical beaches of the Galapagos Islands on the equator! One of the most recognisable species associated with the Galapagos Islands is the Blue-footed Booby. These guys are reputedly the world's greatest diving birds reaching speeds and depths unmatched by any other bird. There are two other kinds of Booby - well three, but I'm just talking seabirds here! The other two are the Nasca Booby and the Red-footed Booby. This pho...

To transfer from the yacht to an island involves piling into one of the two little dinghies before heading for the shore. Here, Lynn awaits our arrival at Floreana Island on Day 3. Of course, pelicans also like to hitch a ride on the dinghies. They make excellent perches from which to look for fish! Floreana Island is home to reputedly the oldest Post Office in South America. In ancient days, passing ships would leave their messages in the barrel on the beach and then search through for any messages that they could deliver themselves. Nowadays tourists do the same thing. Stamps are not needed, you simply put your postcard in the barrel and hopefully someone picks it out and hand-delivers it for you to the address on the back. We found one with a New Zealand address on which we shall hand-deliver when we get there next month.

Hello to you all, Welcome to this latest travel report and what is unquestionably the greatest week of my Round-The-World trip so far. In contrast to my usual updates, you will probably be pleased to hear that this one won't take you a couple of hours to read. The fact is, the Galapagos Islands are beyond words, they are quite simply the closest you can get to paradise on earth. With this in mind, I have shortlisted 28 photos from the 700+ that I took in the last week and will limit my words to just a brief prologue and the odd explanation along the way.... Lynn and I left Quito on Monday 21st August, 2006 bound for San Cristobal Island in the south-eastern corner of the The Galapagos Islands. We spent 8 unbelieveable days on a small yacht travelling between the islands before returning to San Cristobal Island, and ultimately mainland Ecuador on Monday 28th August, 2006. Our first stop after boarding the yacht and leaving San Cristobal Island was to the tiny island of Lobos off the...

Hello to you, Lynn and I are both well and hope you are too. Did you like the photos I added yesterday? Most of them refer to the last travel report that I wrote but the "Devil's Nose" railway pictures are relevant to this report. So, if you haven't looked at them yet, then scroll down and take a look! So, where are we now? Well, we are currently in the city of Quito, capital of Ecuador. It's been 3 weeks since we left Mancora in Northern Peru and so this is what we've been up to in that time and where we've been to on our way to Quito.... We had 2 more days left in Mancora and our beautiful beach-side hotel before we were due to press on with our trip and make our way north and into Ecuador. The day before we left Mancora Lynn lost her prescription sunglasses in the sea which means that in the space of about 10 days we'd both managed to lose our sunglasses. Rather careless of us, I know! So, now we both sport cheap sunglasses that cost us about 2 quid...

Lynn and I started our one year Round-The-World trip on February 19th, 2006 and today is August 19th, 2006 - exactly 6 months gone and therefore 6 months to go. WE ARE HALFWAY!!! Other than the odd blip when I had my camera stolen, this has been the most superb experience I could have wished for. Let's hope the second six months is just as good! So, with the largest jug of sangria you've ever seen in your life, Lynn and I would like to thank you for joining us on our trip with all your emails and messages. Please keep in touch and see you all in 6 months. Cheers guys!!! Rich & Lynn x

01) We stopped off at a town and even more people crammed on. We're so tightly wedged in that the only difference between us and a tin of sardines is that atleast we're all the right way up! 02) The switchback railwayline as it zig-zag's down the "Devil's Nose". The incline is 5.5% for anyone who's interested! 03) After 6 hours on a corrugated roof most people's arses have had enough therefore they take the easy route back by bus. Only 6 of us took the train back aswell so we had a carriage roof each. 12 hours on a corrugated metal roof - atleast we could spread out a bit!

Last week Lynn and I took a trip on the "Devil's Nose" Railway. This railway in Ecuador runs from Quito to Guayaquil and has been called the world's most difficult railwayline as it took 66 years to complete. The "Devil's Nose" is a near vertical cliff face inwhich the train has to zig-zag back and forth down the face on a series of swichback railway lines. 01) There are 8 carriages and 6 of them are cargo wagons meaning most people have to sit on the roof. 02) Superb views but get there early as places soon fill up! 03) The train passes through many very poor rural areas and the children chase after the train in the hope that the tourists will throw them a lollipop! 04) Run, Forrest, Run!!! 05) A young girl with her prize!

01) Surfing didn't actually originate in Hawaii where most people (me included) thought it did but actually in Peru. This is the traditional way of surfing that Peruvians have been doing for 3,000 years 02) They're pretty good at surfing on modern boards too though! Infact the current women's world surfing champion is Peruvian. 03) The bronzed and buff Rich leaps from the sea with rippling muscles as Lynn swoons on the beach!!! 04) Lynn in Mancora town centre. Don't get angry, Lynn - I told you I didn't notice what was written on the billboard behind you when I suggested a photo!!! 05) In Mancora we pretty much had the beach to ourselves except for the odd pelican or two.

01) Peru has it's own breed of dog that is completely hairless. Well, sometimes not completely as this fellow proves with his blonde mohican! 02) I found this boxer dog playing on the beach in Mancora. With a face like that he was just dying to be photographed. 03) Ok, one more then since I know you think he's cute!

Yes, it's a great title, I know. The thing is, amongst all the hundreds of photos I've taken are many of people and animals that just don't fall into any particular tour or category so I've decided to group some of them together for you to have a look at. 01 & 02) People often use the cities parks to have an afternoon siesta. Check out these two old geezers who are dead to the world... 03) Nice hat, sonny! 05) Speaking of nice hats... It may look silly back in England but these bowler hats are the height of fashion for women in the Andes.

01) Lots of famous celebrities have visited Chan Chan including Mr. Ben. Tch, And you thought he was just a cartoon character! 02) Huaca De La Luna (Pyramid of the Moon) - Sometimes they paint the walls. After hours of looking at brown, this is a great relief (literally)! 03) It's not just old ceramics and earthenware that can be found in the ruins. Sometimes you can unexpectedly come across a great example of 20th century pottery too!