Skip to main content

Galapagos Day 5

Day 5 - May 28
Today we had a 7:15 AM pick up today to go hike the Sierra Negra Volcano. The hike was 17 kilometers (about 9 miles) round trip. We only did the first portion of the hike up the side of the volcano and round part of the caldera, we did not do the second portion into the lava field. We decided against doing the lava field because it was very rocky, my knee was bothering me, and I already fell once on this vacation.  I might have done the lava field walk if we rode horses up, the main trail like one couple from the group did. They met us at the top of the trail.  The cute thing was the one of the horses, was a mom and her little foal followed her all the way to the top. That was one tired little foal when they got to the top. 


The hike up the volcano and around part of the caldera was misty when we started. Due to the fog we couldn't get a clear view of the caldera or across it. Apparently, the caldera is 26 miles around, but the two trails up the sides don't meet so there is not a complete loop trail. It took about 2 hours to hike up the side of the caldera and part way around it to the little shelter. We stopped at the shelter for a snack break, before the rest of the group traveled into the lava field. We only went about 10-minute walk into the lava field, to the first major viewpoint there before turning around and heading back to the starting location for the overall hike. On the way back along the trail the fog cleared up and you could see across the caldera and part of the valley below. Overall, it was a nice hike.






After the hike we stopped for lunch at Campo Duro Restaurant. We had some nice roasted chicken, vegetables, rice, and lentils. Dessert consisted of fruit (banana, watermelon, peach). From there we were taken back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel around 2:30 PM. Because we were back at a reasonable time, we walked along the main street, which doesn't have much, and stopped at a store to pick up some drinks, munchies, and ice cream. So far I haven't found any good souvenirs to bring back from the trip.

Location: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2024 Year in Review and Looking Forward to 2025

This year felt a little off for me; I think it was because I was in a mental recovery mode.  I finished my graduate program in June and immediately went on a week-long vacation to Palm Springs.  I do not recommend Palm Springs in June; way too hot.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but the graduate program mentally and physically exhausted me, which I think showed in some of my creative work.  But being able to work with great people like Natalie Hanrion , Coralinx Cosplay , and Anastasia B kept me motivated.  While I didn’t attend as many Cosplay Photo Shoot events as in the past, the ones I did attend were helpful in keeping the creativity flowing.  I also took some time this year to reflect on a few things and will be making some changes for 2025. In 2024, I shot 6241 frames, which is a 30-percent decrease from last year.  I edited 3187 frames, which is a 40-percent decrease from 2023.  I think this year, I started focusing on being very min...
Post a Comment
Read more

First Session of 2025 - Queen of Hearts

My first official shoot of 2025 was with Lady Cels on January 4 th , to shoot her Queen of Hearts cosplay based off the NoFlutter Design. For this session, I used: Photography Equipment Props/Miscellaneous Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Phottix Strobe 1 FJ400 Westcott Strobes 60-inch umbrella with sock 1 rectangular soft box 1 bell reflector grids 2 C-stands 1 Platypod Sandbags Backdrop stand Savage Primary Red Spyder Color Checker Card A-clamps   Gold ring wedding altar pieces Playing cards Flowers Styrofoam block Scotch tape     The set up The inspiration for this shoot was obviously the Queen of Hearts, but I took my set design cues from the original NoFlutter drawing.  I wanted to create something similar to the swirls used in the background of the image, so I started looking at wrought iron garden fences and ended up on gold we...
Post a Comment
Read more

Snow Session

On January 9 th , Washu Cosplay and I did a slightly impromptu snow session at Great Falls National Park.   This was possible because of the passing of the Explorers Act which allows photography in a National Park with a model without a permit.   Before you get too excited, the law limits equipment and the size of the party; you are allowed your camera, tripod, and handheld lighting equipment, and the group can be no more than 5 people, which includes the photographer, model, and assistants.   So, there are no big lighting setups or big crews; for big shots, you will still need a permit.      For this session, I used: Photography Equipment Props/Miscellaneous Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 1 speed light 1 light stand     The set up For this shoot I was mixing flash and natural light.  In most cases, my model was partially backlighted by the sun.  Thus, I u...
Post a Comment
Read more