Española Island

Today was our first full day in the Galápagos Archipelago. We visited Española, the easternmost island in Galápagos. This was an amazing excursion since we had the chance to visit both of the National Park visitor sites on Española.

In the morning, after a delicious breakfast, we went to Punta Suarez to walk along a cliff area full of seabirds and marine iguanas. We had the chance to see the symbolic bird of Española, the waved albatross. They have a wingspan of seven feet, and one of the largest wingspans of all the birds in Galápagos; when we saw them many where taking care of their chicks.

After our walk we went back to the National Geographic Endeavour, lifted anchor and headed to Gardner Bay, which has a beautiful coralline sandy beach with dozens of sea lions.

At Gardner Bay, guests were offered many activities so they could enjoy both the land and marine ecosystem of Española Island. Some of us went deep water snorkeling to a little island right in front of Gardner Bay. We found many fish and swam with sea lions. Guests also explored the coastal area of the same island by kayak. They saw all kinds of wildlife along the shore, but the highlight was spotting brown pelicans and some striated herons hunting.

At Gardner Bay all of us had the opportunity to walk on a long beach full of Galápagos sea lions. We saw many female sea lions feeding their calves and some of the baby sea lions swimming nearby.

We finished our first full day in Galápagos with memories we will never forget.