Española Island
Last night we sailed all the way from Floreana Island to wake up at Gardner Bay at the island of Española. As this is the last day of our expedition plenty of activities were planned. We started the day with kayaking just before breakfast. Afterwards we went snorkeling at Gardner Islet and it was wonderful! Right after snorkeling we visited Gardner beach, which is one of the prettiest in the whole archipelago. This beach’s sand is so fine and white that resembles talcum powder. It is crowded with a very large Galápagos sea lion colony and many Hood mockingbirds all surrounded by gorgeous turquoise waters.
After spending a great morning we returned to the National Geographic Islander, took a shower and had lunch, we even had the chance to fix our own ice cream sundaes. We had some time off to take a nap, watched a couple of Lindblad Expeditions videos, and played a Geo Bee game in the lounge. At 3:30 pm we disembarked at Punta Suarez on the western side of the island and – oh boy – it was amazing. We observed sea lions pups everywhere, mockingbirds, lava lizards and many marine iguanas. The latter reptiles show a beautiful coloration around this time of the year. Bright turquoise green, black and red colors gave the iguanas the great nickname “Christmas iguanas,” for we are very close to these festivities. We also saw many blue-footed boobies and hundreds of Nazca boobies.
For many of us the real highlight of the afternoon was spotting the endemic Waved albatrosses. We observed many chicks in their final fledging state and with a month to go, they were practicing their flying to gain muscle strength. The adult albatrosses were flying along the cliff edge – when I have the chance see them doing that I cannot avoid thinking that this is a magical bird.
Back on board we had our farewell cocktail party. During dinner our kitchen staff performed a wonderful show with costumes, music and dancing. All had a laugh and truly enjoyed it. Tomorrow will be another day, until then keep looking for our Daily Expedition Reports on the web, for a new expedition begins tomorrow.
