Española Island

Today was the last day of our cruise around the Galápagos Islands, and we could not have asked for more. Hood Island offered an extraordinary learning adventure and the perfect message about conservation that we could take home with us.

Witnessing the very special process of life that has shaped the fragile ecosystems of this particularly young archipelago has been one of the most interesting experiences. We have discovered that a true expedition is the best opportunity to learn, observe and eventually spread the message that there is hope for all of us. Seeing these creatures living happily, undisturbed has taught us that it is possible to live harmonically.

Kayakers around Gardner Islet explored the calm waters in the early morning. Water temperature was in the mid-sixties, and we enjoyed the Galápagos fish and played for the last time with our friendly companions, the sea lions.

At the beach hundreds of sea lions sleeping on shore kept us wondering again about the isolation of creatures that are not used to competition. They let us get very close to take pictures without looking even once at us. We took photos of the endemic Española mockingbird and the sea lions without disturbing their pleasant, well-deserved rest. We need to keep in mind that a normal sea lion spends an average of 17 hours fishing in the ocean so by the time they come on land they are really exhausted.

We explored Punta Suárez in the afternoon. It is the nesting ground for the biggest seabird in the Galápagos Islands, the waved albatross, an entirely oceanic species that comes to land only to reproduce. Española is their breeding territory, and around this time of the year, they are busy racing the chicks so they will be strong enough to abandon the island by the end of the year. We also walked among nesting blue-footed and Nazca boobies, some of them with very young chicks.

As we walked back to the ship, we have the conviction that conserving this very unique territory is not only for us humans to enjoy – the owners of the islands are the incredible species that have shown us throughout the week that it is possible to live together and be happily ever after…