Pre-breakfast outings are the way to go if you want to squeeze every daylight minute out of these twelve-hour equatorial days. Kayakers departed to paddle along the low bluffs of Gardner Bay, and beach walkers and photographers spent time with sea lions, mockingbirds, and finches on this renowned white beach. We saw all three endemic finch species. After breakfast, we snorkeled with young sea lions and Pacific green sea turtles.
The afternoon had us walking over, around, and between boulders with marine life nesting, resting, or courting along the way. Espanola is famous for its high percentage of endemic species – inside an archipelago of unique species! Espanola lava lizards and marine iguanas were frequent sightings, but the seabirds drew much of our attention: swallow-tailed gulls, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and the largest of the locals, the waved albatross.
