Espanola Island
Our first day in the Galápagos islands began with an exciting visit to one of the southern most islands in the archipelago, Espanola Island. We were all excited to go and explore that we could hardly wait. Right after breakfast, we all landed on this little cement jetty built by the National Park, but little did we know that some welcoming committees had been arranged! Marine iguanas were coming to greet us, and sea lions were investigating our shoes while mocking birds pecked at our water bottles. It was almost unbelievable to see such a great amount of wildlife right there when we had not even walked more than a hundred feet! This could only be explained in two words: Galápagos Magic!
Most of us took a nice long walk to find one of the endemic seasonal birds in the Galápagos, which is the waved albatross. We were successful in that endeavor, and we saw more than we bargained for! Espanola is one of the islands with large populations of marine birds like blue footed boobies, nazca boobies and albatrosses; it also has some breath taking landscapes that we all admired for often long periods of time.
In the afternoon, we all took advantage of our water activities, dry and wet. We had glass bottom boat outings, experienced snorkelers outings and a nice relaxed stroll around a white sandy beach literally covered by sea lions! Today was certainly a day to remember!
Our first day in the Galápagos islands began with an exciting visit to one of the southern most islands in the archipelago, Espanola Island. We were all excited to go and explore that we could hardly wait. Right after breakfast, we all landed on this little cement jetty built by the National Park, but little did we know that some welcoming committees had been arranged! Marine iguanas were coming to greet us, and sea lions were investigating our shoes while mocking birds pecked at our water bottles. It was almost unbelievable to see such a great amount of wildlife right there when we had not even walked more than a hundred feet! This could only be explained in two words: Galápagos Magic!
Most of us took a nice long walk to find one of the endemic seasonal birds in the Galápagos, which is the waved albatross. We were successful in that endeavor, and we saw more than we bargained for! Espanola is one of the islands with large populations of marine birds like blue footed boobies, nazca boobies and albatrosses; it also has some breath taking landscapes that we all admired for often long periods of time.
In the afternoon, we all took advantage of our water activities, dry and wet. We had glass bottom boat outings, experienced snorkelers outings and a nice relaxed stroll around a white sandy beach literally covered by sea lions! Today was certainly a day to remember!
