Española Island
We dropped anchor off the island of Epañola, or Hood, soon after dawn. Huge breakers were rolling in from the north and so I sent Naturalist Daniel to investigate the coast to see if we could safely kayak. Yes, he said. At 0700 a group of eager kayakers paddled along the western coast of the island accompanied at times by several leaping and cavorting sea lions. The rest of us slept in until 0800 and then enjoyed the breakfast buffet that our talented chefs had risen early to prepare for our dining pleasure.
Because of the enormous breakers, we cancelled the snorkeling this morning. Three groups went kayaking and many of us went into the lovely mile long white sand beach. Here we enjoyed watching the sea lions, strolling on the beach and swimming in the rough surf. Gardner Beach was absolutely stunning this morning – the white sand brilliant in the sun and lapped by the turquoise waters. No one wanted to leave the beach at noon.
In the afternoon we made a dry landing on a small dock at Punta Suarez. The walk here, along a lava boulder trail, was fabulous! We found blue-footed boobies at all stages of courtship, incubation and chick rearing, also Nazca boobies with chicks, red and green marine iguanas, the large Hood lava lizards, and finally, the albatross. We had a close look at these large and elegant birds and even watched one take off – stepping off the high cliff and gliding away. There were a couple of large juveniles almost ready to fly. One pumped his wings and worked to develop its flight muscles. We sat for a moment and observed the blow hole spurting salt spray high into the air. Heading back to the National Geographic Islander, we felt privileged to have spent a glorious week in these magical islands.
We dropped anchor off the island of Epañola, or Hood, soon after dawn. Huge breakers were rolling in from the north and so I sent Naturalist Daniel to investigate the coast to see if we could safely kayak. Yes, he said. At 0700 a group of eager kayakers paddled along the western coast of the island accompanied at times by several leaping and cavorting sea lions. The rest of us slept in until 0800 and then enjoyed the breakfast buffet that our talented chefs had risen early to prepare for our dining pleasure.
Because of the enormous breakers, we cancelled the snorkeling this morning. Three groups went kayaking and many of us went into the lovely mile long white sand beach. Here we enjoyed watching the sea lions, strolling on the beach and swimming in the rough surf. Gardner Beach was absolutely stunning this morning – the white sand brilliant in the sun and lapped by the turquoise waters. No one wanted to leave the beach at noon.
In the afternoon we made a dry landing on a small dock at Punta Suarez. The walk here, along a lava boulder trail, was fabulous! We found blue-footed boobies at all stages of courtship, incubation and chick rearing, also Nazca boobies with chicks, red and green marine iguanas, the large Hood lava lizards, and finally, the albatross. We had a close look at these large and elegant birds and even watched one take off – stepping off the high cliff and gliding away. There were a couple of large juveniles almost ready to fly. One pumped his wings and worked to develop its flight muscles. We sat for a moment and observed the blow hole spurting salt spray high into the air. Heading back to the National Geographic Islander, we felt privileged to have spent a glorious week in these magical islands.
