Espanola Island
We are anchored at Espanola Island, one of the jewels of the Galápagos; a true bird sanctuary. We are all ready to begin the year 2006 with the right foot, so we disembarked only to be astonished by the amount of life found, only a few meters from the landing place. We were warmly welcomed by different committees; iguanas, baby sea lions, a couple of Galápagos hawks and a few “rock-hoping” lava lizards. We thought we had seen it all when running into the hood mocking birds, which were following us during a good part of the walk. It was really amazing to see so much life in just a little part of the trail, and it was very difficult for us, naturalists, to get our guests to the next stopping point!
We had many highlights this morning, but probably the main one has been to see all the baby nazca boobies nesting. Some of them were having their daily nap, while others were attempting to stand up to observe us inquisitively. After a short while, we arrived to the Promised Land: the blow hole and its gorgeous landscape. Here, lots of Nazca boobies were stretching and exercising their wing muscles, and as we were observing the horizon, we finally saw the waved albatross. Not a bad first day for the New Year!
As soon as we came back to the ship, we got ready to collect our snorkeling equipment for the week. Our first outing was at Turtle rock, where our most eager snorkelers headed right after lunch. As if all of these adventures were not enough, we topped our day with a nice time on a white coralline beach, where literally hundreds of sea lions laid peacefully. Some of the baby sea lions were too curious, and decided to check the two legged species just arriving. It was a wonderful feeling to have them sniffing at our feet and feel the fearlessness of such beautiful creatures.
We are anchored at Espanola Island, one of the jewels of the Galápagos; a true bird sanctuary. We are all ready to begin the year 2006 with the right foot, so we disembarked only to be astonished by the amount of life found, only a few meters from the landing place. We were warmly welcomed by different committees; iguanas, baby sea lions, a couple of Galápagos hawks and a few “rock-hoping” lava lizards. We thought we had seen it all when running into the hood mocking birds, which were following us during a good part of the walk. It was really amazing to see so much life in just a little part of the trail, and it was very difficult for us, naturalists, to get our guests to the next stopping point!
We had many highlights this morning, but probably the main one has been to see all the baby nazca boobies nesting. Some of them were having their daily nap, while others were attempting to stand up to observe us inquisitively. After a short while, we arrived to the Promised Land: the blow hole and its gorgeous landscape. Here, lots of Nazca boobies were stretching and exercising their wing muscles, and as we were observing the horizon, we finally saw the waved albatross. Not a bad first day for the New Year!
As soon as we came back to the ship, we got ready to collect our snorkeling equipment for the week. Our first outing was at Turtle rock, where our most eager snorkelers headed right after lunch. As if all of these adventures were not enough, we topped our day with a nice time on a white coralline beach, where literally hundreds of sea lions laid peacefully. Some of the baby sea lions were too curious, and decided to check the two legged species just arriving. It was a wonderful feeling to have them sniffing at our feet and feel the fearlessness of such beautiful creatures.
