Española Island
The morning was overcast; however it promised us a great day. It is time to learn a little more about this beautiful paradise, the Galápagos Islands. It is great to do so by visiting one of the best places, Española Island.
This fantastic island is located on the westernmost side of the archipelago. Punta Suarez, our visitors’ site in the morning is famous for its abundance in wildlife that provides an amazing and stunning show of the most high range of endemism of the archipelago. Since the very first moment we set foot on the island, the welcome committee received us: Galápagos sea lions, Española marine iguanas, Española lava lizards, Sally light foot crabs, Española mocking birds, Galápagos hawks, and more. As soon as we started to walk, we realized that everywhere we looked a living thing was there.
It is hard to believe how creatures that looked absolutely different thousands or millions of years ago, can still exist here but in the form of new species. All the different adaptation mechanisms make these creatures able to exist. We witnessed today beautiful examples of how life finds a way to survive. We cannot forget to mention the waved albatross, such fascinating birds, elegant and endemic to Española, the endemic Nazca boobies, the Darwin’s finches, Galápagos snakes, etc.
In the afternoon we practiced diverse water activities, such as a glass bottom boat outing, deep water snorkeling, snorkeling for beginners and kayaking. Many of us enjoyed a wonderful coralline white sand beach, where we were surrounded by those graceful marine mammals, the Galápagos sea lions. We were delighted to observe the Española mockingbirds that, just like inspectors, were looking with curiosity at our bags.
This lovely day is fading in time, and by no means will it be back. We will be willing to have such incredible experiences once again in the near future as we journey on our Galápagos expedition cruise this week.
To see footage from this day, please click here.
