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Returning home from a long drive, we were welcomed home  by a "sun halo", light refracting off ice crystals in the clouds.  It looked a bit like a 360 degree rainbow but the colours weren't prominent.  I took the photo into Snapseed to adjust the lighting and contrast which gave more definition to the halo.  Then I took a quick trip into the Luminar Neo app to reduce the noise.

While in Lima, Peru and waiting for our guide outside the Larco Museum, I had the opportunity to play with the iPhone's built-in macro.  Here are a couple of macro shots of Western Honey bees enjoying the beautiful flowers on a warm, sunny day.  

 The Urubamba River runs through the Sacred Valley in Peru from Pisac to Ollantaytambo. It's provision of water for local crops such as maize in this fertile valley is why the Sacred Valley is called 'Sacred'.  These photos are taken on the way to Machu Picchu.

Ok, it's a llama not a dog and it is much friendlier than a guard dog would be.   Anyway, it is fun to see these guys wandering around amidst the tourists at Machu Picchu.

Taking a break now from all of the Galapagos creature posts, I spotted this little hummer at the equator in Ecuador.  He was quick but stayed just long enough for me to grab a shot with my iPhone.

Here are a few more of my blue-footed friends from the Galapagos.  I started these blog entries with a blue-footed booby early in the posts.  I am ending my images from Galapagos series with these lovely birds.

Here are a few more 'under the sea' shots from my recent snorkeling in Galapagos.  Camera used is the Olympus TG-6 which is good for underwater depths with no special casing.

With the underwater camera still in hand, I tried to pan the pelicans as they flew quickly and low over the water in search of fish.  When they saw a favourite snack, they dove straight down to snag their lunch.  

Here are a few more shots of the land iguanas of the Galapagos.

Here are a few more images from the underwater camera.  At the depth below where I was snorkeling, the camera produced mixed results as many of the sea creatures were far away.  The best shots seemed to be when there were vivid colours.  Here are some brightly coloured fish.

Since I returned from Galapagos, I have posted photos of Blue-Footed Boobies, Flamingos and Penguins.  Of course, there were many, many more species of small and large birds on the islands.  These included Pelicans and Herons.  Here are a few more feathered friends - on the hunt for fish and baby turtles.

On a Floreana Island beach, we happened upon many sea turtles in front of a nearby nesting ground.  Some turtles were frolicking in the surf, where sex lasts for two hours!  Most of the female turtles were just exhausted - either from the frolicking or from laying eggs.  

A bit more shy than the marine iguanas we saw on the beaches at Santa Cruz Island was the land iguana.  The ones we saw while hiking on "Dragon Hill" were resplendent in yellow and orange colours.  They were difficult  photograph as they were off the trail in the bushes and we weren't permitted to leave the trail to look for a better vantage point.

This photo doesn't do justice to the beauty of this Spotted Eagle Ray, lying by the ocean floor.  If I had scuba gear, I would have dove down to get a better shot, but the wet suit and salt water made it difficult for this snorkeler to dive down to any significant depth below the surface.

The good news is that I was able to swim in the ocean with a pair of white-tipped, reef sharks while snorkeling off Floreana Island in the Galapagos.  The bad news is that the underwater camera I was using couldn't get a clear photo of the sharks.  The was a strong current flow through the middle of an outcrop called The Devil's Crown and it was kicking up sand.  

I knew we would see many bird species on a trip to Galapagos but I must admit that I didn't expect to see penguins!  These little fellows were the fastest swimmers of any creatures that we saw on the trip, zipping back and forth more quickly than dolphins or sea lions.  Tt was difficult to get a photo of them while they were swimming but I did manage to get this one.

These shots are from a large pond a short hike from Bachas Beach in the Island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos.  It is home to many beautiful flamingos.  This was a nice stop on the way to see the nesting grounds of the green sea turtles.  

While visiting Galapagos, we saw a large number of (large) sea lions.  Many were lazing on the beach, but we also swam in the ocean with them.  Here are a couple of beach beauties.

Along the shores of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos are black volcanic rock and the darkness of the rock really shows the beautiful red colour of the multitude of red crabs.  Younger crabs, more vulnerable to predators, do not have the red colouring so that they can be more discreet.  But larger crabs, like this fellow, spend their days moving along the rocky shoreline.

One of the first things we did when we arrived at Galapagos was to visit the El Chato Ranch on Santa Cruz Island.  This place is a natural reserve with many enormous land tortoises in their natural habitat. These giants can weigh between 250 and 300 kg and they can live up to 200 years.