Española Island

Today we headed to Española Island, the southernmost one of the Galápagos archipelago. This paradisiacal island is considered to be the oldest one of this group of fascinating volcanic islands.

In the morning we landed at Punta Suarez in the middle of a Galápagos sea lions’ colony. In fact, we struggled trying to make our way through these creatures that were found along the beginning of the trail. Española Marine Iguanas with their distinctive green and red coloration on their backs are also part of the island’s exceptional wildlife. It looks like somebody came and painted the iguanas’ black bodies with a brush of bright red and green paint along their spines.

As we walked along the rocky trail we were trying hard to keep our balance and at the same time we were very careful not to step on the Española lava lizards that were warming up their bodies in the morning sun.

Very large sea birds’ colonies, like the Nazca boobies, are found all along the cliffs. We observed several juvenile boobies as well. These young birds are fluffy and white and blend in so well with the background that we almost tripped on them. It is amazing but they would not move or care with our presence at all! This is one of the amazing facts of the Galápagos, animals do not fear humans. There have never been big terrestrial predators on the islands, nobody to hide away from. It feels almost “abnormal” that they do not react when we pass by so close to them.

In the afternoon, we headed to Gardner Bay, such a beautiful place! We saw all the different shades of blue and turquoise waters contrasting with a long white sandy beach that is covered by sea lions. Some others went snorkeling around Gardner Islet for about an hour. We felt just as stunned with the variety of tropical fish that we spotted and with the playful Galápagos sea lions that were pulling our fins by slowly nibbling them.

It was then time then for strolling along the beach, watching all the Galápagos sea lions coming back from their fishing activities and enjoying the last hours of sun before a good night sleep. The sunset told us that it was time for us to leave the beach and head back to our home for this week the National Geographic Polaris.

To see video footage from today's Galapagos expedition cruise, click here.