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  Here is a nighttime view of the cityscape in Quito, Ecuador.  Taken through the hotel window, I had to turn off all the lights in the hotel room to eliminate reflections.

One the terrific hotels I stayed in during last month's trip to South America was the Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel & Wellness.  It is located along the banks of the Vilcanota river about a 1.5 hour drive from Cusco.  It is also 40 minutes from the train station in Ollantayambo which is where you travel to Machu Picchu.   The hotel, on the grounds of a 17th century hacienda is quite spectacular with beautiful surroundings and large rooms. 

Hand looms?  Threads dyed using various plants?  These Peruvian ladies work very hard to make incredible tapestries and clothing items.  There is no pattern to work from; it is in their head and - oh by the way - the pattern in their head has to be upside down!

The Monasterio is a Belmond hotel in Cuzco, Peru.  It is a former monastery, now converted to a fabulous (and photogenic) high end hotel.  During last month's trip to South America, I spent a couple of nights at this hotel and must highly recommend it. 

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.

What an amazing site it was!   It has been on my bucket list for many years and it was worth the time, expense and effort to finally see Machu Picchu in all its glory.  

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 couple of views from on board The Infinity, the luxury yacht that takes people to various islands in the Galapagos.  The sunsets were a beautiful orange and the white sandy beach was a perfect place to see the birds and animals.  

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.

Getting between the Galapagos Islands was done on the luxury yacht Infinity.  Getting to and from the ship each days was done by dinghy, some days with a dry landing and others as a wet landing on a beach.  Here are a few of my favourite shots from on and off the Infinity.

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.