Here are some of the locals you will meet during Guy Harvey Outpost’s guided people-to-people expedition to Cuba December 13-18: –The son of Fidel Castro’s official photographer; –the …
Sea lions sprawled on park benches barking at human passersby. Hundreds of marine iguanas standing around spitting salt. Tiny baby booby birds only inches from a walking trail. Just a few of the images …
When you embark on Guy Harvey Outpost’s Galapagos Islands photo expedition May 4-12, you will be the envy of scientists from all over the world. Visiting five different islands in this remote eastern …
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![](mailto:?subject=Cuba Un-canned: See It With the Locals&body=Here are some of the locals you will meet during <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">Guy Harvey Outpost's</a> guided people-to-people expedition to Cuba December 13-18:
--The son of Fidel Castro's official photographer;
--the director of the Cuba's Masonic museum;
--a rural tobacco farmer;
--a mixologist who will teach you how to make the perfect Mojito.
And the locales you will visit will combine mainstream stops (Floridita --creator of the daiquiri-- and Museo de la Revolucion, stone walls with 1950s bullet holes) with way un-trodden destinations (Cueva El Palmarito --the largest cave system in Latin America, and a fishing cooperative in Cojimar, where Ernest Hemingway's captain spent most of his life).
Your hosts will be Justin White-- operator of <a href="https://www.docfordscubaexpeditions.com/">Doc Ford's Cuba Expeditions</a> and nephew of best-selling novelist Randy Wayne White--and Sports Illustrated photographer Ron Modra.
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"The people we are going to meet are incredible-- interesting, intelligent, diverse age groups," White said. "You'll see the monumental places but the targeted people and events introduce you to real people living their daily lives. The most valuable experience you can have is to be with the people and ask them questions. There are no airs put on."
With new U.S.-to-Cuba travel restrictions set to take effect in mid-September, White is taking special care to stay on the right side of the law: staying only in private lodgings, taking meals in private restaurants; interacting one-on-one with Cuban people; and travelling in a 12-member group.
"We will abide by all the policies and restrictions put in place," White said. "We focus on people-to-people exchanges."
The six-day, five-night itinerary is packed with authentic experiences: poring over photo albums with Raul Corrales, whose father shot reams of images of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his friend author Ernest Hemingway; walking the docks at Cojimar, the small fishing village where Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" was set and where the author's captain Gregorio Fuentes lived to be 104; visiting Finca Vijia where Hemingway's boat, Pilar, still sits; touring a tobacco farm and coffee plantation; and hiking to a huge cave in the countryside. It also hits some of the typical tourist spots such as the Tropicana nightclub and Old Havana. And there will be multiple opportunities to ogle (and photograph) all the old cars, with Modra coaching on the finer points of capturing images.
If you <a href="https://guyharveyoutpost.com/expeditions/cuba/">book your expedition</a> by Aug. 31, you'll receive free airfare from Fort Lauderdale to Havana. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">www.guyharveyoutpost.com</a> or call the Outpost Travel Desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/cuba-un-canned-see-it-with-the-locals/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Galapagos: Islands of Eye-Popping Photo Ops&body=Sea lions sprawled on park benches barking at human passersby. Hundreds of marine iguanas standing around spitting salt. Tiny baby booby birds only inches from a walking trail.
Just a few of the images from the highlight reels of a handful of avid wildlife photographers who joined Guy Harvey Outpost's inaugural May photo safari to the Galapagos Islands.
"I'm gonna go again for sure," said country music star Ronnie Dunn of the Brooks & Dunn duo. "It was super fun. Full of surprises."
The expedition was led by veteran Sports Illustrated photographer Ron Modra who served as both guide and mentor to the group. But Modra said he didn't have to do too much mentoring.
"Everybody we had on the trip was fairly well accomplished," Modra said. "I think they got some really great stuff. I didn't let them leave a location until everybody had what they wanted."
Unlike guided cruise ship expeditions to the Pacific islands about 600 miles off Ecuador, this itinerary was land-based and covered five islands in eight days. The photographers stayed in hotels at night, traveled by boat to the islands, and hiked and snorkeled at their own pace to obtain the images they wanted.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Booby-babies.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4801 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Booby-babies.jpg" alt="" width="2100" height="1400" /></a>Photo: Diana Calleja
Naples, FL photographer Diana Calleja got many great shots of boobies, frigate birds, iguanas, and sea lions, but one image she coveted eluded her: the tropicbird, noted for its bright red bill and long, white-feathered tail.
"It's just magnificent. They are so fast. I'd like to go back maybe next year and get that shot," Calleja said.
Calleja's trip got off to an unfortunate start; on the second day, a broken strap plunged her camera into the ocean. Only the memory card was spared.
"I was just devastated," she said. "But everyone said, 'no, no' -- we have equipment for you."
And for the remainder of the trip, using borrowed gear from her fellow shooters, Calleja scored nearly everything she wanted--lying flat on a path between lava rocks to get photos of baby boobies; swimming with sea lions "just doing this ballet around you"; tripping over her own feet when a mama sea lion scolded her for getting to close to a baby.
"I was well clear," she said. "We all had a good laugh."
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/steve2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4802 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/steve2.jpg" alt="" width="1680" height="1120" /></a>Photo: Steve Martine
The Galapagos revealed itself in different ways to all the photographers. Dunn was flipping through some images one night and nearly deleted one he had shot from a cliff while trying to capture birds in flight. But upon closer examination, he discovered he had captured a superb image of a large rock covered with marine iguanas, including one he said looked like Godzilla.
"There's stuff hidden in the rocks all over the place," Dunn marveled. "You almost need a spotter when you're looking through the lens: 'Hey! Coming in at 2 o'clock!'"
Dunn was enchanted by the rich diversity of wildlife -- from the colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs perched on the rocks to the sea lions reclining on park benches.
"I thought I'd sneak over by one and he jumps up and barks at me," Dunn said. "The big males are doing that alpha thing all the time. They look like they're trying to kill each other, but they're not."
Dunn owns a warehouse in Nashville, Tennessee's arts district where he's putting together the Lensmen Project-- a gallery of nature photography by travelling shooters. He said the Galapagos trip spurred him to get serious about it.
Improving his skills with Modra, he said, is "like getting to paint with Picasso. And Ron is great fun."
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Guy Harvey Outpost will mount a second land-based Galapagos photo safari led by Ron Modra October 29-Nov. 5. For complete details, pricing and reservations, visit <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">www.guyharveyoutpost.com</a> or call the travel desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/galapagos-islands-of-eye-popping-photo-ops/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Walking in Darwin’s Footsteps on Guy Harvey Outpost Galapagos Expedition&body=When you embark on Guy Harvey Outpost's Galapagos Islands photo expedition May 4-12, you will be the envy of scientists from all over the world. Visiting five different islands in this remote eastern Pacific chain about 600 miles off Ecuador, you will observe and capture images of species found nowhere else on earth such as the Galapagos sea lion; Galapagos tortoise; and the marine iguana.
The unique animals that inspired naturalist Charles Darwin to lay out his world-changing theory of evolution in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859 are still revealing themselves to science in 2017 and you could be there as these revelations unfold.
In 2015, scientists discovered a new species of giant tortoise on Santa Cruz Island. For more than 150 years, the long-lived land animals on the eastern and western portions of the island were believed to be the same species, but genetic studies found the two populations were distinct. The eastern population became the 15th known tortoise species in the Galapagos, four of which are extinct.
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One prominent geneticist who is itching to conduct DNA research in the islands is Dr. Mahmood Shivji, head of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University near Fort Lauderdale. Shivji visited there several months ago on a trip with Guy Harvey Outpost President Mark Ellert and the company's Ecuadorean development partners. The scientist discussed possible avenues of research with officials of the Galapagos National Park.
"We hope to study movement patterns and migrations of a variety of animals-- sea lions, land tortoises, boobies, frigate birds, white marlin--in collaboration with the Galapagos National Park Service and scientists from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in the Galapagos," Shivji said.
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There are lots of procedures to undergo for anyone wishing to conduct scientific research in the Galapagos; proposals must undergo several levels of government review before any permits are issued. And park officials expect scientists publishing their findings to share them with the park.
Shivji, who has made some breakthrough genetic discoveries surrounding sharks and billfish, can hardly wait.
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"DNA contains an amazing amount of information on the current and past status of species and populations. There's still lots of discoveries to be made," Shivji said. "In addition to generating basic knowledge of how animals evolve, that information also is essential in helping the Galapagos National Park inform their policies for conserving these amazing iconic species in this unique place."
So it's possible that as you hike and snorkel around these islands taking photographs with your guide, Sports Illustrated veteran Ron Modra, you could be capturing images of a bird, reptile or mammal destined to up-end modern science.
To book your Galapagos expedition, go to <a href="http://www.GHOGalapagos.com">www.GHOGalapagos.com</a> or call our reservations desk at 800-513-5257.
PHOTO CREDITS: Ron Modra https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/walking-in-darwins-footsteps-on-guy-harvey-outpost-galapagos-expedition/){kind=link}
TRAVEL DESK : 800.513.5257
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