Espanola Island
Espanola is one of those places that it is considered a “must” when you visit this unique archipelago. Despite the fact that it is a very small island, this place has four unique endemic species to the Galápagos: the marine iguanas, lava lizards, mockingbirds, and waved albatrosses. More than that, the entire island is an area visited every year by blue footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and several species of land birds.
During the walk in the morning, we spent a great deal of time observing the courtship dances of different species, such as the waved albatross and the Nazca boobies. It was nice to observe that even on these birds the romanticism prevails. The male is very given and he offers many different presents to the female, just to show her that he would deserve her attention.
Probably the highlight during my morning walk was to observe an immature blue footed booby during his first flying class. The booby was standing at the edge of the cliff, flapping rapidly its wings for a while. He then jumped off the cliff to soar for several minutes only a few feet away from us. It was very touching to see this, but then it turned into a funny situation when he decided that it was enough and tried to land but discovered that he didn’t know how to. He finally got tired of the situation and made a “crash landing” on the lava rocks with no noticeable injuries, but perhaps a broken ego!
The afternoon was dedicated to water activities. We enjoyed snorkeling and swimming from the beach, while the most experience snorkelers headed to a small island called “Tortuga.” It was simply fantastic! The amount of marine life in this little place was incredible. We had large schools of colorful fish of different species, and of course, we couldn’t ignore the playful sea lions which were teasing our guest in the water.
The beach was motive for relaxation, and some of us decided to spend the afternoon laying on the white coralline sand or simply observe the sea lions carry on with their careless lives.
Espanola is one of those places that it is considered a “must” when you visit this unique archipelago. Despite the fact that it is a very small island, this place has four unique endemic species to the Galápagos: the marine iguanas, lava lizards, mockingbirds, and waved albatrosses. More than that, the entire island is an area visited every year by blue footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and several species of land birds.
During the walk in the morning, we spent a great deal of time observing the courtship dances of different species, such as the waved albatross and the Nazca boobies. It was nice to observe that even on these birds the romanticism prevails. The male is very given and he offers many different presents to the female, just to show her that he would deserve her attention.
Probably the highlight during my morning walk was to observe an immature blue footed booby during his first flying class. The booby was standing at the edge of the cliff, flapping rapidly its wings for a while. He then jumped off the cliff to soar for several minutes only a few feet away from us. It was very touching to see this, but then it turned into a funny situation when he decided that it was enough and tried to land but discovered that he didn’t know how to. He finally got tired of the situation and made a “crash landing” on the lava rocks with no noticeable injuries, but perhaps a broken ego!
The afternoon was dedicated to water activities. We enjoyed snorkeling and swimming from the beach, while the most experience snorkelers headed to a small island called “Tortuga.” It was simply fantastic! The amount of marine life in this little place was incredible. We had large schools of colorful fish of different species, and of course, we couldn’t ignore the playful sea lions which were teasing our guest in the water.
The beach was motive for relaxation, and some of us decided to spend the afternoon laying on the white coralline sand or simply observe the sea lions carry on with their careless lives.
