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Day 9 - 10: Galapagos, part 3

Day 9 (18 December 2010)
A lazy start of this last full day at the Galapagos. During the night the ship sailed to Espinoza, the oldest island in the archipelago. Again it was a rather rocky night, but we got used to it already. All we did in the morning was a wet landing at the beach and spend and hour or so wandering about and lying at the beach between many, many sea lions. They were as lazy as we were, except for a few very playful and nosy young ones. They keep on enchanting you with those big brown eyes :-)

After lunch we had an interesting lecture about whale-sharks by Matthew Potenski, a marine biologist that had won this trip with a great photograph he made of a whale-shark. And after that we landed at another spot on Espinoza to have our final walk. And what a great walk it became! This island again has some endemic species, that only can be seen here: large lava lizards, very colorful Christmas Iguana's (so called because the males turn red and green during the mating season that starts around Christmas), a special mocking bird and next to that it's the breeding ground of the Waved Albatross. And we saw them all in all their glory, some mating, some trying to get off their first flight, etc. But we also saw a lot of Blue footed Boobies again, very, very close. We couldn't get enough of all these wonderful creatures, so we saw a great sunset while we rode back in the Zodiacs to the ship. Another special day of this wonderful trip.

Day 10 (19 December 2010)
Our last day on the Galapagos. An early rise, everything packed and everybody a bit reluctant to leave the ship to go to the airport. A part of our travel companions went further to Quito, so we had to say goodbye to them in the plane. Back to the Hilton Colon in Guayaquil we went for some shopping in the mall and on our way back we saw a tiny hummingbird. So still some wildlife :-)
We had dinner with Tom and Karen, their daughter Meg and son Mason. We had done so very often during the last week and that was always a great pleasure and so was now.

Day 6 - 8: Galapagos, part 2

Day 6 (15 December 2010)

This day will bring us to Isabela and Fernandina Islands, all the way up north and west, crossing the equator twice: once in the night and once in the morning. As usual that's worth a little celebration :-) The northern part of Isabela has relatively cool waters and is therefore home to the Galapagos penguin and sea turtles. Not many people come here because it's rather remote. The Zodiac ride along the cliffs already made us feel aroused: lots of blue footed boobies, marine iguanas, crabs, penguins, sea turtles, the large Mola Mola fish, fur seals, sea lions, flightless Cormorants, etc etc.

After a short break we changed into our wet suits and then went snorkeling among all those wonderful creatures. Awesome! Really, really awesome! Swimming with all those turtles and playful sea-lions makes you feel exited and humble. This is their territory, they love it and they accept us in it. Isn't it a shame that most humans are so selfish and demand to be the centre of attention ... Nobody wanted to leave, but lunch was already waiting. Can things become any better? In the afternoon we sailed to Fernandina Island, one of most active volcanoes in the world (but not today).

We had a dry landing on an irregular lava flow at Punta Espinosa. There we could admire hundreds of marine iguanas with some of the males already in their mating season colors. But also the inevitable sea lions, next to flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins and many other birds that now already look familiar.

Day 7 (16 December)

We sailed to the southern part of Isabela Island, where we had a long walk in the morning. We saw some colorful land iguanas and even saw the very shy Vermillion Flycather (it was 6 years ago our naturalist saw his last one!). This was a marine reef that in 1954 suddenly was uplifted, so now you can see large remains of coral in the middle of the land. After that we had a quick swim with a nosy pelican and went on board again for lunch. One of the naturalists had spotted a group of dolphins in the bay, so we rode to that spot. It took quite a while before they were spotted again, but then it was really great. We (or they?) came very close to the Zodiacs, and there was even a baby :-) During lunch we sailed to the most southern part of Isabela, between the Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. In the afternoon we did a Zodiac cruise along the coast line, where we saw four kinds of rays, which was really exiting.

Day 8 (17 December 2010, our 24th anniversary together)

It was a long and very rocky sail to the next destination, Floreana Island. First we had a pre-breakfast wet landing at Post Office Bay. There you can pick up postcards and letters people left for delivery by hand. No stamp required, just a friendly fellow countryman that takes it home and delivers it himself. So we left two postcards and took three with us that we will deliver in The Netherlands. This is a tradition that started in 1793, so we have to keep that in honor of course! The waves were still rocky, so we all became very wet in the Zodiacs, but after breakfast time for another ride at another spot: Champion. A little island, home to the only approximately 200 surviving Charles Mockingbirds. We saw them, and also some beautiful Tropic Birds (with their long white tails) and of course ... Sea lions ;-) back to the ship for our wetsuit and a snorkeling session with a lot of fish and the friendly and curious sea lions. The sea was a bit too rough for my taste, but still, I had a good time. Finally some time to check phone messages and e-mail. Always nice to know that it snows heavily back home, while we're enjoying the tropical weather :-) In the afternoon we did a hike at the island in the hope to see some flamingos. Well, there was one indeed, but only that one. It didn't really matter because the rest of the walk was nice, especially the quiet beach at the other end of the Isle where sea turtles lay there eggs at night. Some of them were already present. On our way back to the ship we witnessed a beautiful sunset.

Day 3 - 5: Galapagos, part 1

A wake up call at 5.45 AM was the beginning of the day. After breakfast and a short ride to the airport we started to get acquainted with our fellow travelers on the Lindblad / National Geographic expedition to the Galapagos. Two hours later we landed at Baltra airport, a small strip, build in the Second World war and now used as a commercial airfield. Another hour or so later we boarded the Zodiacs that brought us to our home for the next week: The  National Geographic Islander. A nice ship, 46 passengers and 31 crew. It was great to see the first wildlife before boarding, that's promising for the rest to come.

By the way, not too many photographs for now on the blog, because it takes quite a while with the satellite. It's wonderful enough to be connected, isn't it ;-)

Immediately after the necessary briefing and lunch we sailed to North Seymour Island. There we got our first real Galapagos nature experience: frigate birds, blue footed boobies, land iguanas, and lots of sea lions. The trail took about two hours and it was really wonderful to see the animals so close by, not shy at all. A great beginning of this trip!

    

The next day we woke up in the bay at Bartolome Island and we did a pre-breakfast landing followed by a walk to the top of the summit where we had a wonderful view of the bay with it's famous pinnacle. After breakfast we went snorkeling. Not as many fish as in coral reefs, but still, it's always nice to see them in the natural habitat. During lunch the ship sailed to another spot where we had a wet landing on a black volcanic beach with lots of sea lions, crabs, marine iguanas and of course lots of birds. A naturalist took us for a walk to the other side of the island where we spotted fur seals in the deeply carved see-level grottos. The rough see was spectacular and we had great fun looking at all the wildlife. Amazing that this is only the second day on the Galapagos and already so many great creatures!

During the night the sea got pretty rough, so it was good we had an early night :-)
The third day is dedicated to the giant tortoises. First a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. There we saw "Lonesome George", the last living tortoise of a specific island. Also "Diego" was there, who returned to his native country from the San Diego Zoo. Nice to see them so close, but still, they're in captivity and that's not what you want to see here of course. So in the afternoon we went by bus to the highlands and there they were: giant tortoises in their own habitat. Impressive. Not much movement of course, but still it sometimes looks like they're posing for the pictures. We also visited two large pit craters, overgrown with Scalesia trees on our way back to the harbor. The weather in the highlands is much more moist and damp, so a completely different vegetation again, including an endemic orchid.

Day 1 & 2: Amsterdam to Guayaquil

After a very busy period in the gallery it's finally time for our trip to the Galapagos Islands and Peru.

The day started early with a flight to Madrid (2.5 hours), a transfer to the next Iberia flight to Quito, in Ecuador, (11 hours) and after a short stopover over there a flight to Guayaquil (0.5 hours), our final destination for the day. Our chauffeur was already waiting at the airport and after a nice light dinner at the Hilton Hotel Colon we finally went to bed exactly 24 hours after we got up at home.

By the way, I had a nice start of the day at Schiphol airport, because in the lounge I read the great article by Bertjan ter Braak in our national newspaper De Telegraaf about Aernout Overbeeke, my current exposition in the gallery.

Our second day we spend quietly in a warm, but clouded, Guayaquil. This was once one of the most dangerous cities of Ecuador, but since the enormous alterations at the end of the 1990's a pleasant stop. So we strolled the "Malacon 2000", the newly built boulevard along the banks of the muddy river at which this city has developed. After that we visited the old neighborhood of Las Peñas (very touristic, but a great view over the city from the lighthouse). Then a bit of shopping and we're ready for our next destination: the Galapagos Islands.

  High above the ocean ...                                        Stop over in Quito

Me, during our lunch on the Malacon 2000

    

The Malacon 2000                                                    "El Faro" - The Lighthouse - at Las Peñas

A Dutch touch in "El Faro"

A view from the top 

PAN Amsterdam 2010

Finally some time to post a few pics. It was extremely busy at PAN Amsterdam and we were very, very successful. My best art fair ever.

Especially the photographs by Marie Cécile Thijs were very popular. One sold out completely and another almost (only two left). But also Reinier Gerritsen and Marie-Jeanne van Hövell tot Westerflier were in demand. It was fun to see how Sabrina van den Heuvel (my Rock-and-Roll photographer) managed to seduce all kinds of high brow customers with her disarming charms.

But also the great "Dutch still-lives" series by Richard Kuiper made people dazzle. It was always very busy and pleasant in our booth and visitors really liked to meet all the photographers that were present at the opening as well as during the rest of the week.

More pics in the album on my facebook account!

Photograph by Feyona van der Molen

Photograph by Feyona van der Molen

Photograph by Feyona van der Molen

Some visitors during the opening

 

Sabrina van den Heuvel (left) exchanges e-mail adresses with a fan

 

Just one example of the great success of Marie Cécile Thijs

 

 
Marie Cécile and Merel, her model for this photograph (now in the Rijksmuseum!)

 

And there's one of me as well ... in between Marie Cécile, Mike, Floor and Marieke

Amanda on national television

           

Amanda is going to help me as a junior curator at the Naarden PhotoFestival next year and she also helped at our booth at the PAN Amsterdam art fair. The minute she set foot in the booth she was spotted by the Dutch television program "Man bijt Hond" (= Man bites Dog). That was because she was wearing high heel shoes that they liked.

It was broadcasted this Friday.

Her minute of fame is from 7:19 - 8:17 min at the video. Hope it works ... also two shots I took and some stills. And if the video doesn't work ... then this is the url.

 

Opening party Aernout Overbeeke

It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon. Lot's of people showed up to see the new show "Ndoto - Tanzania Dream" in the gallery. And it was nice for Aernout to see so many of his good friends and family.

Here are some impressions. And thanks to Bara Lockefeer also some better ones then the simple iPhone pics ;-). More of her photos of this occasion in the album on facebook.

       
  

        

    
  

 

    

Aernout Overbeeke in Cobra Museum

Busy times for Aernout! Not only a one man show in our gallery, but also his wonderful portraits of Cobra artists in the Cobra Museum for modern art in Amstelveen followed by the complete series of "Ndoto - Tanzania Dream" on Sunday 28 November.  And yes, at about 5 PM that day the book of this interesting series will be launched in the Cobra Museum as well.

We had a preliminary meeting in the Museum, so a good opportunity to capture Aernout in front of his unique Cobra series.

 

 

De Donkere Kamer in Pakhuis De Zwijger

A new initiative of Lars Boering and Edie Peters: every two months an informative evening for photographers and everybody who loves photography in Pakhuis De Zwijger (Amsterdam).

This was the first time and I thought it was a great success. Lots of interesting items and a very pleasant atmosphere. A funny 'performance' of the photography duo WassinkLundgren was one of the highlights.

I really hope that they can keep up this high quality every time, already looking forward to the next one in January. All about #1 through this link (in Dutch).

Long weekend in Stockholm - Part II

And here are some more impressions of Stockholm. Of course the Stadshuset (City Hall) is worth a visit, so is the National Museet (where we saw a great exhibition about Napoleon, always a favorit of mine), The Moderna Museet (showing a lot of photographs by Kertesz and Rodchenko among the classics and new stuff in the current exhibition), etc, etc.

And don't forget the opera and the premiere of "En handelsresandes död" (Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller) with Krister Henriksson (who we of course all know better as Kurt Wallander). And a visit to the house of the famous writer August Strindberg. And dinner at Sturehof and Rolfs Kök. And ... so many other things. Even in this time of the year you won't be bored in Stockholm :-)

     




  4 times the Stadshuset

 

The Royal Opera House at night (Kungliga Operan)

 

   

August Strindberg (he wasn't home) & dinner at Rolfs Kök

 

6.30 PM, rush hour in Stockholm ... Okay, okay, it was on Sunday

This is the Kungs Trädgården Station

Let's end with me in the Stadshuset (Prince Eugen's Gallery) ...

and the wonderful Krister Henriksson as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (to be seen in Dramaten).