Española Island is often called one of the “jewels in the crown” of the Galapagos Islands; today this island was our destination for the last full day of our expedition. Española is well known for its vast amount of endemic species, and today we observed several of them. In the morning we enjoyed some time relaxing at Gardner beach, including walks along the sand and encounters with lazy sea lions resting all over. Mockingbirds and lava lizards are guaranteed sightings on this island as well.
During the afternoon we put on our hiking shoes and went for a longer hike, this time to find the nesting colony of waved albatrosses. These birds nest only here, on this tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, and we were lucky enough to visit during the peak of their nesting season.
