Today we started our exciting expedition of the Galapagos Islands on board the National Geographic Islander. The Island we visited today was the oldest, Española.
Early in the morning some guests decided to be the first to explore the island, so we deployed the kayaks to go along the shore and see some of the wildlife that’s only found here. Sea turtles, marine iguanas, sea lions and more gave a good introduction to what is found here. Later, with the rest of the guests, we visited a place called Gardner Island. This was our first snorkeling outing and baby sea lions along with plenty of fish surprised everyone. To finish the busy morning we went to the beach to enjoy the white sand of Garner Bay’s beach. It is a good place to practice snorkeling for the first time, to relax, to stroll, and to enjoy the colony of sea lions that were resting here.
Then we returned to our home away from home so could move to our next location, Punta Suarez. This location is a popular place for seabirds, so we went on a hike to visit the nesting and resting sites of many species. Nazca boobies, marine iguanas, lava lizards and other animals are breeding at this time of the year, so it is possible to get close and learn more about them. We stopped to see the cliffs where some birds take off and also to see how the vegetation has grown so much with the rains that come at this time of the year.
It was only the first of many wonderful days here in Galapagos!
