Española Island

People often ask me which is my favorite Island. When it happens, I have to take a deep breath and deliberate for a while, and even then sometimes I cannot give any answer. It is hard to have a preference, when each one is unique, and has something that makes it different from the others, special. It also depends on my mood. If I feel like I want to dream that I go back to the very beginning of the Galápagos, I would choose Fernandina or Bartolome, with perfect geology, young lava flows. If I feel in the need of colors, I choose Genovesa in the breeding season. If I am willing to submerge in turquoise crystalline water, snorkeling with beautiful fish like this giant hawkfish, Gardner bay, Española’s Northeaster corner, would be my choice. If I am in the mood of dreaming, I fly the farthest, to the open seas, I certainly have to see waved albatrosses, and they are only found on Española. Or if I want to hear the special calls of blue-footed boobies in breeding ceremonies, Española is the place for it, and it has to be this time of year. So today, my answer would definitely be Española Island.