Thursday Challenge—"beach"

Espumilla Beach, Isla Santiago, Galapagos

This is not such an unusual sight in the Galapagos,
where the animals have unfettered access to their
 habitat, but visiting humans definitely do not—
which is absolutely as it should be. 

We did encounter a couple of the locals,
who graciously shared their beach with us.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—W is for "whiskers"

When I was sailing around the Galapagos this past
October, I came out on deck one early morning
and encountered this endearing visitor.

The 14 passengers were thrilled to welcome 
this sea lion aboard (she didn't stay too long, 
though, as this was the spot where we 
boarded the pangas for our shore excursions).

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—N is for "nature"

In the Galapagos, we came upon this baby
seal but didn't see Mom and Dad right away.

They did let us know pretty quickly that
they were nearby—but Mom felt comfortable
enough with us to take a nap. Dad was a bit more
vigilant but never aggressive, despite the fact
that there were 10 of us surrounding
his child. There's not another place
on the planet like this, I'm sure!

[To see more ABC Wednesday, go  here.]

Thursday Challenge: "feelings"

I might have told these Galapagos sea lions
to "get a room"—but this is their "room"
and I was just privileged to be a witness
to their (not so) private moment.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

abc wednesday - Z is for "zoo"

These are the charming sea lions that

put on a show for the folks at the

Central Park Zoo a couple of times a day. 

When I was a kid, for a long while

I wanted to be one of the keepers. Still

think that would be a really cool job.

[Wonder how many others chose "zoo"—

check it out here.]