Espanola Island
Today we celebrated Charles Darwin’s birthday in the company of our guests and the flora and fauna of the islands that inspired him in his theory of evolution by means of natural selection, the Galápagos.
Our pastry chef made a huge and delicious chocolate cake, and Espanola Island was at its best for such special occasion. We found Nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies and swallow-tailed gulls in the morning, but one of the most amazing sightings was to watch marine iguanas swimming out at sea to feed on algae. Tide was low, the best time to observe this behavior. Darwin himself discovered that iguanas could dive and stay under water for up to an hour and get to great depths. He discovered that their main diet was Ulva, green algae, and even though he called them “imps of darkness” after his first encounter with marine iguanas, he was amazed by their forms and behavior. After all, they are the only sea going lizards in the world.
We enjoyed the warm waters of Gardner bay in the afternoon. Some went to turtle rock, to have a deep water experience. Many went to the beach to practice snorkeling for the very first time, and it was great to see how many of our guests became pretty good snorkelers after the assistance they got at the beach. Kayaking late in the afternoon was just the perfect way to end a perfect day, Darwin’s day.
Today we celebrated Charles Darwin’s birthday in the company of our guests and the flora and fauna of the islands that inspired him in his theory of evolution by means of natural selection, the Galápagos.
Our pastry chef made a huge and delicious chocolate cake, and Espanola Island was at its best for such special occasion. We found Nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies and swallow-tailed gulls in the morning, but one of the most amazing sightings was to watch marine iguanas swimming out at sea to feed on algae. Tide was low, the best time to observe this behavior. Darwin himself discovered that iguanas could dive and stay under water for up to an hour and get to great depths. He discovered that their main diet was Ulva, green algae, and even though he called them “imps of darkness” after his first encounter with marine iguanas, he was amazed by their forms and behavior. After all, they are the only sea going lizards in the world.
We enjoyed the warm waters of Gardner bay in the afternoon. Some went to turtle rock, to have a deep water experience. Many went to the beach to practice snorkeling for the very first time, and it was great to see how many of our guests became pretty good snorkelers after the assistance they got at the beach. Kayaking late in the afternoon was just the perfect way to end a perfect day, Darwin’s day.
