Española Island

The Island of Española is one of the most beautiful islands in the Galápagos archipelago. This flat island is a very small one; it is only 23 square miles. At this time of year it looks luxuriously green for we are in the rainy season. In the morning we visited Punta Suarez which is a place full of wildlife. When were close to land, there was a welcoming committee: Galápagos sea lions jumping and playing in the water. After we landed our guests were amazed to see so many sea lions and marine iguanas very close to the trail. Marine iguanas are endemic to the Galápagos Islands; this archipelago is the only place in the world where these reptiles are found. The marine iguanas on this island show a very unusual and characteristic coloration, they show a beautiful combination of red, green and black. The Espanola marine iguanas are the most colorful of all the seven subspecies found in the archipelago. After taking many photographs of them we kept on walking. During the walk by the coast line we observed Nazca boobies on top of the cliffs, blue footed boobies and a little bit more inland, Darwin’ finches, Espanola mockingbirds and the top predator of the islands, the Galápagos hawk. The landscape was also impressive with the cliffs bathed by strong waves.

After a delightful lunch we visited another breathtaking area on Española, Gardner bay. The long white sand beach found in this place surrounded by aquamarine clear waters is as close as you can imagine as an idyllical paradise. This afternoon we offered our guests different activities, swimming, snorkeling, glass bottom boat, kayaking and a stroll along the beach. Every one of us had a wonderful time and came back on board with a sense of satisfaction knowing that there are still places so pristine like this one.