Each morning in the Galapagos we donned life jackets and set out to explore in small inflatable boats called pangas. Since the small islands had no boat landings, we either waded from the boat to the beach in waist-deep water with our cameras held high or docked against the lava rocks and scrambled to get a foothold. Strict rules are in place to protect the islands and minimize the impact of tourism. Visitors had to be accompanied by a certified guide and could only remain on an island for a specified length of time, usually about 2 hours.
The water is gorgeous, and I love everything I see here, but I know in my heart this was not the year I could have done this! (I need a handrail to somethings pull myself upstairs!) I'm truly delighted you're sharing your photos, and if you ever put a book together, I'd love to see it sometime! It's everything I love!
...I just called Ashley over to see your photos, so she got out her book from when they were there in 2008. That segued to the computer photos and some video... Armchair travel it will have to be for a while yet!
Brings back memories! @Taffy -- Remember the supposed dry landing in which we had to do what Elizabeth describes as wade through waist-high water keeping our cameras over the waterline? Sigh. If only we knew what we know now about photography back then. I purchased my first SLR for that trip and shot in Auto the whole time, using the cheap kit lens on my entry level cropped sensor.
@jyokota So glad you and Taffy experinced Galápagos! My friend on the trip got bowled over by a wave as we waded to shore and her iPhone camera drowned. Lost all her photos.
@redy4et Oh no!!! That's awful!! We were so lucky, in hindsight, given what we understood about photography and just the places we had our cameras! What a great trip.
