Española Island, The beauty of age…
Traveling through Galápagos is similar to traveling through time. We have experienced the altitude and roughness of the youngest islands and today we have encountered our aged island of Española. At first sight it is eroded, low lying, and somewhat drab with its vegetation, however it holds many surprises for us. We launch our day with a kayaking adventure before breakfast close to our anchorage at a satellite island. Kayakers are treated to a volcanic coastline tinted red by oxidation with large Oputia prickly pear cacti growing out of the fissured coast. Sea lions as curious as ourselves make a performance popping their heads out of the water to see these strange beings floating next to them.
After breakfast we continue with a deep water snorkel at Gardner Island where we are reaffirmed of the diversity of underwater life. Black stripped salema, coronet fish, sea lions, surgeon fish, and barber fish swim among us as if we actually belong among them. We finish our swimming with a bubble blowing festival in the company of a young sea lion.
Return of the snorkelers finds a group of us heading to one of the most incredible beaches to be found in the archipelago. Gardner Bay beach has a slightly sloping beach that has taken hundreds of thousands of years to reach this level of beauty. It appears that our only residents on the beach are 150 plus Galápagos sea lions taking a mid morning nap from their daily duties. The waves pound the shore line helping to make this fine white sand that we feel between our toes. Time passes as we contemplate on how this turquoise water and white sand beach came to be.
Heading into the afternoon we change our position as the captain navigates toward Punta Suarez on the western coast of Española. This final site awaits us with a boulder path that is well liked by the local inhabitants. Brightly colored marine iguanas with green and red tinges are soaking up the sunlight as they try to warm their blood to an acceptable level. Sea lion pups are playing with the neighbors as they await their mothers to return and give them milk. One pup decides that a marine iguana tail is appropriate for playing with, however the iguana thinks otherwise not showing much of a sense of humor. As we continue on the path we understand why Nazca boobies and swallow tailed gulls prefer this area, access to the immense ocean before us. Red billed tropic birds continue to fly overhead as they search for their nesting areas and the sun starts its fall.
Returning to the ship we have a wink from our closet star and we realize that beauty comes with age…..
