Española Island
Today we woke up at the southeastern most island of the Galápagos Islands; this is what we called a dying volcano. Española Island is around 5 millions years old, and very isolated from the other islands of the Archipelago; here the animals and plants have evolved in isolation to such an extent that has given them the opportunity to become endemic or unique.
The shoreline is bathed by the nutrient-rich Humboldt current, which is cold not only because it comes from the Antarctic area, but also because it rises up from the great depths of the ocean, carrying many minerals that help different kinds of species to reproduce.
Red and black marine iguanas bask in the sun on the rocks, preparing themselves to go in the shallow waters where they forage in search of the algae they feed on. Lava lizards move in front of our feet, and blue-footed boobies perform their dances in order to attract a female to reproduce.
Further inland we found the largest colony of Waved Albatrosses. They live and reproduce on the island of Española every year between April and December. Their chicks, with a funny Big Bird-like look and being fed with fish oil by the parents, will grow up in a short period of time to finally leave the island behind for about four years.
Here we can get so close to the animals and sometimes they get close to us as if they would like to introduce themselves.
It has been a wonderful day, rich and full of nice memories.
