Española Island
There are a number of places in the Galápagos which amaze every visitor, and this island is one of them!
At Punta Suarez this morning we had the most enjoyable walk with perfect temperatures, ranging in the low 80’s. When we disembarked from the National Geographic Endeavour, we witnessed a fantastic rookery, composed of the most diverse wildlife in the islands, ranging from the largest lava lizards, each of them with brilliant colors as they have just started their mating display!
Nearby, their close relatives the marine iguanas were in large numbers warming up for their later dive of the day to go feeding on algae that grows underwater.
As we walked by the endless boulders of the island, we saw blue footed boobies in their nests with one or two chicks in each nest.
This walk amazed everyone, since you can observe at a very close range swallow-tailed gulls, Nazca boobies, red-billed tropic birds, Galápagos hawks, striated herons, and Darwin finches, amongst others.
Certainly everybody’s highlight came towards the far end of the trail as we approached the majestic cliffs where we watched the waved albatross of the Galápagos soaring on the updraft. Being November, the island has plenty of juvenile albatrosses. We must have seen at least some 30 of them, many close to this 1 ½ mile long trail. Certainly the albatrosses have had one of the best years, since we have not often seen this many towards the end of their season.
In the afternoon after our first snorkeling experience, we headed to Gardner Bay, a pristine white coralline beach where we all enjoyed the peacefulness and company of the Galápagos sea lions. There, just at sunset time as if all the enjoyment of the day wouldn’t have been enough, we witnessed the birth of new life in these islands, a baby sea lion was born right in front of us…
