Española Island

Is it just our imagination or was this sea lion pup really so glad to see the Polaris again? We have been gone for a month to Panama and the ship has been wonderfully refurbished. Today we had an invigorating hike over the rounded lava boulders on Española and found that at last the bluefooted boobies are nesting and there are many eggs and small newly hatched chicks. The waved albatross have not been successful in their breeding attempts this year. However, there are still adult birds on the island courting and re-establishing their pair bonds. In a few months they will leave Galapagos to spend the rainy season feeding along the coast of Peru and Chile on the Humboldt Current. The afternoon was spent swimming, and snorkeling and strolling along the powder white beach at Gardner Bay on the north coast of Española. There was time to spend a moment in quiet reflection. Time to watch a bold endemic mockingbird or study the charming antics of the numerous, curious sea lion pups. Yep, it is good to be back in "las islas."