Española Island
This has been a marvelous week and we are all sad to see the trip come to an end. We have shared unforgettable moments in these magical “islas encantadas” and our experiences here will no doubt remain with us forever. Each day has dawned different: we have had hot, sunny skies, thick cloud cover, windy afternoons, rough seas, and a mirror-like ocean surface in the early morning. We have snorkeled off golden, black, greenish-brown and white sand beaches, hiked along trails strewn with rough lava boulders and others of fine volcanic cinders. No two visitor sites have been alike; each day we awake and find our comfortable little ship anchored off another gorgeous island and we have been an eager group, ready and willing to “do it all!”
Today, our final day, was no exception. We spent the morning snorkeling in the crystalline turquoise waters around Tortuga Islet. We found large groups of colorful tropical fish: king angels, Moorish idols, and butterfly fish. We were reluctant to get out of the water but in the end we were well chilled and headed to join the rest of our friends on the beach. What a beach! The white sand beach at Gardner Bay on northern Española Island must be one of the most beautiful in the world, without hotels or any infrastructure of any kind. Instead there are dozens of sea lions – resting, nursing, playing and patrolling territorial boundaries. We thoroughly enjoyed an unstructured visit with time to watch and listen and stroll on our own. We swam and sunned and tried hard not to think about the fact that two days from now we would be heading back to work!
In the afternoon we disembarked in our best walking shoes on a cement dock and wove our way among sea lions and marine iguanas and lava boulders. The trail passed through a Nazca booby breeding colony and we admired their adorable cotton-fluffy white chicks. Blue-footed boobies courted and sky-pointed and some pairs had eggs. The blowhole spewed foam and spray high into the air and we walked carefully along a high cliff that serves as a take off site for the heavy waved albatross. The albatross were dancing; renewing their pair bonds before they separate for several months of feeding in the open sea. We were thrilled to be treated to the intimate details of courtship and mating. It is such a privilege to have spent a week in Galápagos; to have treaded quietly along and photographed these fearless reptiles, birds, fish and mammals in their unspoiled natural habitat. It is our hope that Galápagos can be protected and restored for all future generations to enjoy as we have.
This has been a marvelous week and we are all sad to see the trip come to an end. We have shared unforgettable moments in these magical “islas encantadas” and our experiences here will no doubt remain with us forever. Each day has dawned different: we have had hot, sunny skies, thick cloud cover, windy afternoons, rough seas, and a mirror-like ocean surface in the early morning. We have snorkeled off golden, black, greenish-brown and white sand beaches, hiked along trails strewn with rough lava boulders and others of fine volcanic cinders. No two visitor sites have been alike; each day we awake and find our comfortable little ship anchored off another gorgeous island and we have been an eager group, ready and willing to “do it all!”
Today, our final day, was no exception. We spent the morning snorkeling in the crystalline turquoise waters around Tortuga Islet. We found large groups of colorful tropical fish: king angels, Moorish idols, and butterfly fish. We were reluctant to get out of the water but in the end we were well chilled and headed to join the rest of our friends on the beach. What a beach! The white sand beach at Gardner Bay on northern Española Island must be one of the most beautiful in the world, without hotels or any infrastructure of any kind. Instead there are dozens of sea lions – resting, nursing, playing and patrolling territorial boundaries. We thoroughly enjoyed an unstructured visit with time to watch and listen and stroll on our own. We swam and sunned and tried hard not to think about the fact that two days from now we would be heading back to work!
In the afternoon we disembarked in our best walking shoes on a cement dock and wove our way among sea lions and marine iguanas and lava boulders. The trail passed through a Nazca booby breeding colony and we admired their adorable cotton-fluffy white chicks. Blue-footed boobies courted and sky-pointed and some pairs had eggs. The blowhole spewed foam and spray high into the air and we walked carefully along a high cliff that serves as a take off site for the heavy waved albatross. The albatross were dancing; renewing their pair bonds before they separate for several months of feeding in the open sea. We were thrilled to be treated to the intimate details of courtship and mating. It is such a privilege to have spent a week in Galápagos; to have treaded quietly along and photographed these fearless reptiles, birds, fish and mammals in their unspoiled natural habitat. It is our hope that Galápagos can be protected and restored for all future generations to enjoy as we have.
