Photo Gallery
Fabrice Schmitt and Steve Howell
Our cruise ship home for 2 weeks often stands out amidst the local vessels along our route.
Photo: Steve Howell
We will land in 5 different countries, keeping the same room. If you choose a cabin with a balcony you can even bird there.
Photo: Fabrice Schmitt
There are several restaurants on board that will please all palettes.
Photo: Fabrice Schmitt
At some landings we’ll be alongside a dock and just walk off the ship; at others, tenders such as this will ferry us ashore.
Photo: Steve Howell
Watching from the ship is comfortable and nicely shaded in these mostly tropical latitudes.
Photo: Steve Howell
Birds along our route range from tapaculos, here a Moustached Turca….
Photo: Steve Howell
…to Pterodroma petrels, here a Juan Fernandez Petrel (almost all of the seabird pictures presented in the slideshow have been taken from the ship).
Photo: Steve Howell
Other sea life may include whales, such as this Bryde’s (pronounced Bruder’s) Whale….
Photo: Steve Howell
…as well as flyingfish, here a Pied-tailed Necromancer.
Photo: Steve Howell
We start in the rich Humboldt Current, home to many storm-petrels, including White-bellied…
Photo: Steve Howell
… White-faced…
Photo: Steve Howell
… plus the locally breeding Markham’s…
Photo: Steve Howell
… and handsome Hornby’s (or Ringed), whose breeding grounds remain unknown.
Photo: Steve Howell
De Filippi’s (or Masatierra) Petrel can be common during the first few days.
Photo: Steve Howell
Not a skua, but a dark-morph Kermadec Petrel pursuing a Juan Fernandez Petrel
Photo: Steve Howell
At our landing in southern Peru we plan an excursion in a smaller craft…
Photo: Steve Howell
…to enjoy close-up Inca Terns…
Photo: Steve Howell
… and with luck some Humboldt Penguins.
Photo: Steve Howell
Another stop in Peru may produce the cryptic Peruvian Thick-knee…
Photo: Fabrice Schmitt
… or the colorful Many-colored Rush-Tyrant.
Photo: Fabrice Schmitt
Farther north we should see Galapagos (or Waved) Albatross,
Photo: Steve Howell
the beautiful Swallow-tailed Gull,
Photo: Steve Howell
…and the striking Galapagos Petrel.
Photo: Steve Howell
Tropical latitudes bring with them boobies, here a curious Nazca Booby,
Photo: Steve Howell
Along with groups of frigatebirds that sail effortlessly overhead.
Photo: Steve Howell
Sea Turtles can be numerous, here a Pacific Ridley…
Photo: Steve Howell
…who sometimes provide a perch for boobies such as this male Brewster’s Brown Booby.
Photo: Steve Howell
Many hundreds of dolphins can occur on some days, including Short-beaked Common Dolphins…
Photo: Steve Howell
… and Pantropical Spotted Dolphins.
Photo: Steve Howell
While cff the coast of Central America, leaping devil rays may distract us at times…
Photo: Steve Howell
… but we should still find flocks of Wedge-tailed and Galapagos Shearwaters.
Photo: Steve Howell
Our landing in Costa Rica offers a chance for Scarlet Macaws…
Photo: Steve Howell
…and the snappy Orange-collared Manakin.
Photo: Steve Howell
While the landing at picturesque San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua…
Photo: Steve Howell
…may produce the fancy Long-tailed Manakin.
Photo: Steve Howell
Our birding group often attracts some attention from the crew. In 2016 the captain even came by and graciously posed for a photo with the group.
Photo: Steve Howell
Off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula we may see Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses, a sure sign that we’re back in the Northern Hemisphere and approaching (Alta) California…
Photo: Steve Howell
… where the sun will set on our epic journey across 60 degrees of latitude; a third of the planet’s surface.
Photo: Steve Howell