7 breakfast. Cerro Brujo
8 panga ride

Took a panga ride along the base of the cliffs, and through a tunnel in the cliffs. Few sea birds, but also geological aspects to the ride. Able to see a lava fissure in the cliff wall.

Back to the white sandy beach for a walk. On there there were loads of Sally crabs, interesting to watching them jump from rock to rock. They did not appear to want to get their feet wet, and would rather jump over a foot to another rock. Alas failed to photograph them doing this, should have used the video.

I was more successful in getting diving pictures of sea birds fishing. Interesting to see 5 mm round balls of sand on the beach, this was from the crabs rolling up sand looking for food to eat in the sand. Good picture of Marine Iguanas strolling the beach leaving behind their unmistakable trail.

On the same beach we had some snorkelling, visibility not so good, but fun all the same. Back to boat for lunch, and the boat trip to the port. Here we took the bus up to the el Junca lagoon. Spotted some dragon flies, something called a saddle back. The lagoon is fresh water and is permanently full as the hole is well sealed from leaking despite being in a volcano cone. The water around the lagoon is about 1 kilometre.

From the lagoon we continued on to the tortoise breeding centre and saw several small tortoises being rared for the wild. We also found the xxxxxx xxxxxxx finch,

Back to the port, bought a T shirt and post cards, and a beer. Here you could see the sea lions basking on the gunwales of the boats. Gates were in place at the landing spots to deter sea lions who would otherwise climb steps and start to roam the streets.

Back to the boat and supper.

Up early for a flight to the Galapagos, first we flew to the city of Guayaquil, looking down through the gaps in the clouds, we could see vast areas of low lying farm land and houses under water. The airport had some rather large colonies of Egrets nesting between the runways. A short stop, and then we were off to the island of Baltra, a very small island separated from Santa Cruz by a channel of 200 meters. The airport was fairly efficient, quickly relieving us of 100 dollars each for entry.

Leaving the airport on a bus, then onto the foot ferry to Santa Cruz. Our private coach on the other side took us for our tour. The weather was fascinating, the main land was cloudy, the trip to the islands was clear blue. The islands of course were covered with cloud. Our coach trip took us up to a place where we were due to have a walk and see our first finches, not to be, a deluge of rain. That was cancelled to we went to a private reserve where we saw a barn owl and some romping tortoises feeding. A few birds were spotted, and then back onto the bus to the town of Puerto Ayora for lunch, and a walk to the Tortoise breeding centre.

Now the weather was much improved, sunny and hot, but where we had come from, the cloud still persisted, and rain was surely still falling. A practical lesson in geography. In the town we met begging Sea Lions surrounding the man gutting and filleting Yellow Fin Tuna. At the breeding centre we saw some juvenile tortoises which had not yet been released, and also the old man of them all, Lonesome George.

Back to the town, and we boarded the cruise liner for the week. The boat is a twin masted boat called the Cachalote. Supper was soon ready, and we went to bed pretty early.

The annual three day Berkshire Cambridge Society weekend away happened on May 13th – May 15th.  The weekend started in Gloucester where we had a tour of Gloucester Cathedral, climbing the 269 steps to the top of the tower.  On route to the top we stopped to admire the roof space and fire prevention measures and the bells.  Following the tower tour, was a tour of the cathedral, and the Harry Potter Cloisters.   I was even shown where Catherine used to climb the tower when she was a teenager living in Gloucester.

Lunch was at the New Inn Gloucester, where a hearty buffet was served with a pint of Adnams Mild.  After lunch we had a tour of the newly restored Blackfriars, a Dominican abbey dating back to 1269.  Interesting room was the library, when the monks sat next to the windows transcribing books.  The window openings were cut to maximize the amount of light illuminating their desks.

The final outing for the day was Westbury Court Water Garden, a national trust garden.  The garden was laid out to look like a series of Dutch canals.  Here there was a magnificent Holm Oak.

We then made our way to Speech House Hotel in Coleford where we were to spend two nights.  After dinner we were entertained by Christina giving as a talk about verderers in the forest.

Saturday was a lovely dry day, and started off with a walk through the nearby Sculpture Trail in the forest.  Odd and rather peculiar was the verdict of most of us.   Would not give many of the exhibits house room.  Lunch back at the hotel, and then off to see Goodrich Castle.  One of the many castles built to keep the Welsh under control.  Spent quite a time here being guided around the ruin.

The drive back passed through Symonds Yat, with a fantastic view of the River Wye, and a twitcher’s paradise.   Masses of people there with their spotting scopes and cameras trying to catch the elusive peregrine falcons.  Managed to get a picture of a boring old buzzard.

Sunday and we had a tour of Clearwell Caves, an old iron mine which has operated since prehistoric times, up until the second world war.  The caves have also been used for filming scenes from the BBC drama Merlin, and Dr Who.

The last stop was Lydney Park for lunch and a tour around their gardens.  Spectacular valley setting for rhododendrons, and a great view of the now defunct nuclear power station at Berkeley.

More pictures are available here.  I suggest you also check out the links in the posting for more details.

 

I am writing this blog entry on my mobile phone. Today is warm and sunny, working at home converting a Websphere 5 application to Websphere 7.

Thought I would add a photograph of the asparagus bed we picked a few weeks ago.