Española Island
It is amazing to realize that we can be in a paradise whose inhabitants are not afraid of human beings. Today was a wonderful day. This superlative reflects to some extent all the feelings and new experiences we all had. Tonight, while recapitulating the various activities of the day, personal highlights were shared. Juvenile Nazca boobies, playful Galapagos sea lions, marine iguanas in brilliant breeding colors fighting for territories, a couple of Galapagos hawks, and curious Española mockingbirds were some of our favorites. As you can imagine, an unforgettable snorkeling experience in the most pristine and clear waters was at the top of the list for many of us. Sea turtles, rays, thousands of colorful tropical fish and even an octopus were seen.
Just as we were coming back from a beautiful beach of white sand, some of us observed a very unusual event. Different animal species were jostling over a fish. A couple of sea lions were smashing a big fish on the water. Their objective was to break the fish into pieces to eat it. The commotion created a mini feeding frenzy. Pelicans, frigate birds and storm petrels were trying to get a piece of the meal. At the end, and after some minutes, one of the pelicans stole what was left of the fish. The fish chunk was so large that the lucky bird could hardly fly with it. The whole situation was delightful to watch. The latter sighting is just one of the many we had. It will take many pages to relate in detail all of them. I think that is one of the reasons why these islands are magical.
It is amazing to realize that we can be in a paradise whose inhabitants are not afraid of human beings. Today was a wonderful day. This superlative reflects to some extent all the feelings and new experiences we all had. Tonight, while recapitulating the various activities of the day, personal highlights were shared. Juvenile Nazca boobies, playful Galapagos sea lions, marine iguanas in brilliant breeding colors fighting for territories, a couple of Galapagos hawks, and curious Española mockingbirds were some of our favorites. As you can imagine, an unforgettable snorkeling experience in the most pristine and clear waters was at the top of the list for many of us. Sea turtles, rays, thousands of colorful tropical fish and even an octopus were seen.
Just as we were coming back from a beautiful beach of white sand, some of us observed a very unusual event. Different animal species were jostling over a fish. A couple of sea lions were smashing a big fish on the water. Their objective was to break the fish into pieces to eat it. The commotion created a mini feeding frenzy. Pelicans, frigate birds and storm petrels were trying to get a piece of the meal. At the end, and after some minutes, one of the pelicans stole what was left of the fish. The fish chunk was so large that the lucky bird could hardly fly with it. The whole situation was delightful to watch. The latter sighting is just one of the many we had. It will take many pages to relate in detail all of them. I think that is one of the reasons why these islands are magical.
