Española Island
The Galápagos Islands are formed by a hot spot situated at the western side of the archipelago, underneath a tectonic plate moving east. Today we visited the southeastern side, therefore the oldest island of all: Española.
The age of the island has affected the volcano. It is disappearing under the sea. The species have had more time to adapt to the particular conditions of Española. Endemism is very high. There are many species that are only found here.
Early in the morning we visited Punta Suarez. This walk is one of the highlights of the week. We started with our friendly sea lions still sleeping on the disembarkation area. The Española marine iguanas were basking on the lava rocks to get their energy for the day. As we started walking we found many blue footed boobies nesting. Española lava lizards were running underneath us. And, after some boulders, we finally got to see the best part of the morning which was the waved albatross nesting area. This island is the only place where this species nests. It was very exciting starting to find huge fat chicks waiting for their parents to come back with some more delicious fish oil!
The cliff and the blowhole were incredible places to sit down, look around and enjoy of the wonders of nature. What a morning!
In the afternoon the National Geographic Endeavour moved to a different location: Gardner Bay. There we enjoyed an amazing white beach, home of hundreds of sea lions. We had a busy afternoon: snorkeling, glass bottom boating, enjoying beach time and even taking our first kayak outing.
It was a great beginning for this week in paradise.
