Española Island
What a wonderful day we had today!
On the first full day of our expedition through the Galápagos Islands, we visited Española, the oldest island in the archipelago. Some of our guests this week are part of a special Photographic Expedition, so we had a couple of different wake up calls this morning, including one for a very early daybreak disembarkation to visit one of the wildlife hotspots of Galápagos. We all agreed that this extra effort paid off as the bird activity was practically at a frenzy, and we enjoyed every behavior to our amusement. Everybody loves this place because of the amazing amount and diversity of its inhabitants and the spectacular nature of its scenery. In this season many different birds are taking the opportunity to mate and raise their young offspring. We found blue footed boobies dancing; some albatrosses incubating a single 285-gram egg, while many marine iguanas rested on the hot lava boulders and started to head towards the ocean, beckoned by the lowering tides. It was a spectacular early morning hike, as were the later options.
Everybody came back with a fulfilled spirit, ready to share their wonderful experience. As the Polaris repositioned, out hotel staff greeted our guests with a delicious typical Ecuadorian lunch: colors and flavors of all kinds from our motherland, the mainland, just to remind us this is eco-tourism in the Enchanted Islands, where all aspects of our host country are explored.
We had various water activities in the afternoon. Many people decided to enter our underwater realm and enjoyed lots of fish during a deep water snorkeling outing. In the meantime, others refreshed their skills in the shallows or just strolled and lay on towels amongst the sea lions on this wonderful long white sandy beach.
For on the beach of Gardner Bay we saw a lot of sea lions. There was one particular adult male sea lion that was “organizing” his females. He was posing for our cameras, telling us that he was the bull sea-lion in charge, and the owner of that territory.
Amongst many experiences and new friends, we are having a marvelous time on board the Polaris and our expedition has just started!
What a wonderful day we had today!
On the first full day of our expedition through the Galápagos Islands, we visited Española, the oldest island in the archipelago. Some of our guests this week are part of a special Photographic Expedition, so we had a couple of different wake up calls this morning, including one for a very early daybreak disembarkation to visit one of the wildlife hotspots of Galápagos. We all agreed that this extra effort paid off as the bird activity was practically at a frenzy, and we enjoyed every behavior to our amusement. Everybody loves this place because of the amazing amount and diversity of its inhabitants and the spectacular nature of its scenery. In this season many different birds are taking the opportunity to mate and raise their young offspring. We found blue footed boobies dancing; some albatrosses incubating a single 285-gram egg, while many marine iguanas rested on the hot lava boulders and started to head towards the ocean, beckoned by the lowering tides. It was a spectacular early morning hike, as were the later options.
Everybody came back with a fulfilled spirit, ready to share their wonderful experience. As the Polaris repositioned, out hotel staff greeted our guests with a delicious typical Ecuadorian lunch: colors and flavors of all kinds from our motherland, the mainland, just to remind us this is eco-tourism in the Enchanted Islands, where all aspects of our host country are explored.
We had various water activities in the afternoon. Many people decided to enter our underwater realm and enjoyed lots of fish during a deep water snorkeling outing. In the meantime, others refreshed their skills in the shallows or just strolled and lay on towels amongst the sea lions on this wonderful long white sandy beach.
For on the beach of Gardner Bay we saw a lot of sea lions. There was one particular adult male sea lion that was “organizing” his females. He was posing for our cameras, telling us that he was the bull sea-lion in charge, and the owner of that territory.
Amongst many experiences and new friends, we are having a marvelous time on board the Polaris and our expedition has just started!
