Española Island
Today we had a very entertaining day spent entirely on Española Island. Early morning found us anchored at the eastern end of the island, at a site named Punta Suarez. This island is absolutely at its best this time of year, as the cold, rich waters cause all the sea birds to embark upon a breeding frenzy! Blue-footed boobies are courting, mating, incubating eggs and raising chicks everywhere we look. The waved albatrosses have returned from many months at sea to find their long-lost mate and start a new cycle that culminates in December, when the new fledgling launches itself off the cliff, not to return for many years. High tide this morning meant marine iguanas were high up on shore, strewn along the paths and everywhere blocking our way—allowing our guests to truly feel how special it is to be in a unique land where animals don’t feel fear towards humans.
As the day progressed, we sailed to the eastern side of Española and anchored in Gardner Bay. Here we lowered the Glass Bottom Boat and launched Zodiacs towards various snorkeling sites, to start the first of many exploratory outings to the underwater realm of Galapagos. Many beautiful tropical reef fish were seen, and some of our guests even encountered small sharks and a turtle!
Gardner is also home to what must be one of the most spectacular beaches in the world: a long stretch of soft white sand strewn with basking sea lions – a wonderful opportunity to observe the behaviour of our favourite animals and take some fantastic pictures. Many of the younger sea lions seemed as fascinated by our younger guests as they were of the pups!
Today we had a very entertaining day spent entirely on Española Island. Early morning found us anchored at the eastern end of the island, at a site named Punta Suarez. This island is absolutely at its best this time of year, as the cold, rich waters cause all the sea birds to embark upon a breeding frenzy! Blue-footed boobies are courting, mating, incubating eggs and raising chicks everywhere we look. The waved albatrosses have returned from many months at sea to find their long-lost mate and start a new cycle that culminates in December, when the new fledgling launches itself off the cliff, not to return for many years. High tide this morning meant marine iguanas were high up on shore, strewn along the paths and everywhere blocking our way—allowing our guests to truly feel how special it is to be in a unique land where animals don’t feel fear towards humans.
As the day progressed, we sailed to the eastern side of Española and anchored in Gardner Bay. Here we lowered the Glass Bottom Boat and launched Zodiacs towards various snorkeling sites, to start the first of many exploratory outings to the underwater realm of Galapagos. Many beautiful tropical reef fish were seen, and some of our guests even encountered small sharks and a turtle!
Gardner is also home to what must be one of the most spectacular beaches in the world: a long stretch of soft white sand strewn with basking sea lions – a wonderful opportunity to observe the behaviour of our favourite animals and take some fantastic pictures. Many of the younger sea lions seemed as fascinated by our younger guests as they were of the pups!
