Española Island
While most of us slept in this morning, Antonio led a group of kayakers who paddled along the coast of Gardner Islet. They were escorted by a couple of curious sea lions and greatly enjoyed the fresh air and cool breeze (they worked for their breakfast!) on this sunny and final day in Galápagos. Following breakfast, two Zodiacs of snorkelers returned to Gardner to swim with those friendly sea lions and they enjoyed schools of fish, especially the guinea fowl puffer, exploring a shallow cave, two sting rays and observing the invertebrate life that covers the cliffs of the islet.
The rest of our morning was spent relaxing on the incredibly beautiful white sand beach of Gardner Bay. There were dozens of sea lions and we had a great time watching them. Pups were nursing, young bulls rough-housing, a large beach master patrolling in the water. When he emerged on the beach, the younger males scattered. Many sea lions rested, having probably recently returned from several days of fishing far out to sea. A few individuals, probably hot from the sun, were rolling in the surf or swimming along the shore.
Hiking down the beach we found two of the three species of finches that are found on this island: the large cactus and the warbler finches. And the endemic Española mocking birds were easy to find; they hopped right up to us and up to the sea lions and chased our flies away. Among the rocks near the end of the white beach we found a couple red and green marine iguanas.
I had to coax our guests off the beach – no one wanted to leave! But back on board we had lunch and a siesta and disembarked at 1530 for a walk along the boulders at Punta Suarez. The afternoon walk was rather hot and humid, but a fabulous finale to what has been an unforgettable week. We observed and photographed both blue-footed and Nazca boobies. Some of the Nazcas had tiny, newly hatched chicks. There were many red and green marine iguanas, and lucky for us, several young albatross were still hanging around and waiting to be fed by their parents. These young birds were very busy flapping their winds to build up their flight muscles; they would lift off for seconds just a couple of feet above the ground.
One group watched a new flyer albatross take flight and soar off majestically from the cliff. There was a pair of Galápagos hawks at their nest site and when we reached the dock we had quite a time getting the sea lions to move from the cement dock so we could board our Zodiacs.
We returned to the National Geographic Islander as the fiery orange sun dropped behind a band of clouds on the horizon. Our hearts were full of memories and satisfaction for having been privileged to spend such a glorious week in these magical islands.
