Española Island
5:15am wake-up call for an early outing that takes us to the oldest island of the Galápagos archipelago. Morning light should give our photo experts a great start for the adventures of the day…
Punta Suarez, the jetty at the beginning of the walk, and its true residents greeted us as we landed. Sally Lights or Zayapas, Marine iguanas wanting to warm up and young sea lions who wanted to see what we were all about came to welcome us on land. The goal was to get to the albatross nesting site, but with so many things happening around us that was impossible to achieve.
The rainy season has come to an end; vegetation is nice and green. An abundance of the food supply this year in Española kept Lava Lizards, Finches, Warblers and Mocking Birds wanting to pair up… it was amazing to see the islands filled with love!. The flowering plants of the Galápagos had an opportunity not to be identified only, but to be talked about.
As we approached the cliffs that overlook the southern coast, the whiteness of the Nazca Booby surprised our guests with its splendor. Beautiful black and white swallow tail gulls gave us chance to explain how the evolutionary processes have taken place particularly on this island. By age, Espanola (or Hood) Island has had more time to develop a high percentage of endemism.
As we approached the blow hole, Red Bill Tropic Birds gave our photographers a hard time. It seemed they did not want to be photographed and kept flying the other way around. After several attempts taking pictures there, we decided to go on and look for the Waved Albatrosses, huge seabirds that weigh around 12 kilos with a wingspan of seven feet. They come every year to nest here and only here is where these creatures will ever touch land. By the end of the year when the season is over, they will return to the sea…
Ecuadorian lunch, pork, sea food, tortillas made with potatoes and other things gave us energy for what was still to come in Gardner Bay. The afternoon offered all kinds of options to enjoy the water… deep water snorkeling, kayaking and the glass bottom boat for those who wanted to see the fish without getting wet.
An amazing end of our first full day in the Encantadas, the white sandy beach covered by sea lions gave us time to have a private moment and think how perfect nature works and how wonderful it is not to disturb it!
5:15am wake-up call for an early outing that takes us to the oldest island of the Galápagos archipelago. Morning light should give our photo experts a great start for the adventures of the day…
Punta Suarez, the jetty at the beginning of the walk, and its true residents greeted us as we landed. Sally Lights or Zayapas, Marine iguanas wanting to warm up and young sea lions who wanted to see what we were all about came to welcome us on land. The goal was to get to the albatross nesting site, but with so many things happening around us that was impossible to achieve.
The rainy season has come to an end; vegetation is nice and green. An abundance of the food supply this year in Española kept Lava Lizards, Finches, Warblers and Mocking Birds wanting to pair up… it was amazing to see the islands filled with love!. The flowering plants of the Galápagos had an opportunity not to be identified only, but to be talked about.
As we approached the cliffs that overlook the southern coast, the whiteness of the Nazca Booby surprised our guests with its splendor. Beautiful black and white swallow tail gulls gave us chance to explain how the evolutionary processes have taken place particularly on this island. By age, Espanola (or Hood) Island has had more time to develop a high percentage of endemism.
As we approached the blow hole, Red Bill Tropic Birds gave our photographers a hard time. It seemed they did not want to be photographed and kept flying the other way around. After several attempts taking pictures there, we decided to go on and look for the Waved Albatrosses, huge seabirds that weigh around 12 kilos with a wingspan of seven feet. They come every year to nest here and only here is where these creatures will ever touch land. By the end of the year when the season is over, they will return to the sea…
Ecuadorian lunch, pork, sea food, tortillas made with potatoes and other things gave us energy for what was still to come in Gardner Bay. The afternoon offered all kinds of options to enjoy the water… deep water snorkeling, kayaking and the glass bottom boat for those who wanted to see the fish without getting wet.
An amazing end of our first full day in the Encantadas, the white sandy beach covered by sea lions gave us time to have a private moment and think how perfect nature works and how wonderful it is not to disturb it!
