Española Island
When I was a kid, growing-up in the Galápagos, I loved to be taken to Española Island. My family had a little tour boat, and whenever there was space available, they took me around. As a Galápagos kid, I felt an exceptional fascination for Española, especially during the warm-rainy season.
Currently, as a naturalist guide, I have the opportunity to come to Española very often, and I still have the same fascination. We are in the warm-rainy season right now, so the island is painted in many colors, especially green, black and red.
Green are the leaves of the holy trees, waking-up from their long dormancy of at least 9 months. Black is the lava, basaltic lava of this very old island, actually one of the oldest in the archipelago. Red are the beaks of the tropicbirds, oystercatchers, and the feet of swallow-tailed gulls. However, there is a creature that has those colors all together. This is no other than the male Española marine iguana. We are in the marine iguana-breeding season, and during these few weeks of January, males display beautiful colors. I could never be tired of watching these creatures, and I will never be tired of Española Island.
When I was a kid, growing-up in the Galápagos, I loved to be taken to Española Island. My family had a little tour boat, and whenever there was space available, they took me around. As a Galápagos kid, I felt an exceptional fascination for Española, especially during the warm-rainy season.
Currently, as a naturalist guide, I have the opportunity to come to Española very often, and I still have the same fascination. We are in the warm-rainy season right now, so the island is painted in many colors, especially green, black and red.
Green are the leaves of the holy trees, waking-up from their long dormancy of at least 9 months. Black is the lava, basaltic lava of this very old island, actually one of the oldest in the archipelago. Red are the beaks of the tropicbirds, oystercatchers, and the feet of swallow-tailed gulls. However, there is a creature that has those colors all together. This is no other than the male Española marine iguana. We are in the marine iguana-breeding season, and during these few weeks of January, males display beautiful colors. I could never be tired of watching these creatures, and I will never be tired of Española Island.
