David Bennett – Favourite Photographs

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David Bennett and his wife Stephanie travelled with us on our escorted group trip to the Cloud Forest, Andes and Galapagos in May 2016. After Galapagos they spent five days at Napo Wildlife Centre, our favourite lodge in the Amazon, in the heart of the Yasuni National Park.

David shared his photos with us a few weeks ago and we loved them so much, we asked him and Steph to pick out their favourites and explain why. We hope these photos inspire you as much as they did us!

David says “you asked us to choose our top ten pictures but it was very very hard selecting just ten. I think we’ll have to call this our ‘ten and a bit’ selection!”

1. This photo perfectly captures the agility of these amazing tiny hummingbirds. We were privileged to see them at a number of sites in the Mindo Valley, and each time was a thrill.

2. This was the first time either of us had ever seen butterflies of such size and friendliness! This butterfly showed bright blue on the inside of its wings when it flew.

3. We saw this magnificent Galapagos Hawk on Santa Fe island. Such haughtiness and menacing eyes! I wouldn’t want to be his prey.

4. This sunset off Rabida Island was just typical of the amazing sunsets we saw throughout the trip.

5. I just loved the pose of this Land Iguana at Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz.  It looks more like a stuffed toy than a real animal!  As with most of the wildlife on the Galapagos, it was totally unafraid of us humans (Steph thinks it needs a bra!)

6. We were very taken by the concept of this co-operative postal service on Floreana.  We posted cards to the UK and Australia, and all were delivered – eventually.

Post Office Bay

7. These Waved Albatross at Punta Suarez on Espanola were showing great tenderness to each other. But in the air they are just huge flying machines with an enormous wingspan.

8. We encountered this turtle while snorkelling off Espanola.  It was just lazily “flying” through the water – very peaceful.

9. At Gardner Bay on Espanola, the Mocking Birds were just so inquisitive.

10. Again at Gardner Bay, the Blue-footed Boobies were so agile, diving from a great height and folding their wings just at the last moment before entering the water at a huge speed.  Then after a few seconds they bobbed up and repeated the exercise time and again. Their energy was amazing.

11. Kicker Rock off San Cristobal was a looming presence out in the ocean.  We snorkelled around and through that huge gap accompanied by white-tipped sharks, sealions, turtles and tropical fish.

12. And we had to add a few from Napo Wildlife Centre in the Amazon!
This was our first exciting view of the Napo Wildlife Centre, which just appeared as the creek widened out into the lake. We stayed in one of the lodges you can see right on the lake.

13. We heard the Red Howler Monkeys long before we saw them.  We will never forget their howls echoing right over the lake, sounding like a huge industrial factory somewhere in the distant forest, which of course was impossible!  We like this picture because he just looks so grumpy,

14. This Lineated Woodpecker was just doing what it does best – we could hear its drumming from quite a distance.

15. The guide insisted there was a Crested Owl in this tree, but at first we just could not see it as it was so well camouflaged. When we did eventually see it, it was huge. How could we have missed it?

If you’d like advice on putting together an itinerary that’s perfect for you, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Experience the same holiday as David and Stephanie – Hummingbirds, Haciendas and Galapagos itinerary
Read guest reviews from our recent trips
Read our top five Galapagos surprises

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