Española Island
We have had a marvelous expedition through the Galápagos Archipelago and today our guests accused us of “saving the best for last!” I am not sure that this day at Española Island was BETTER than our other days – what about hiking among 31 juvenile hawks, and being surrounded by a dozen Bryde’s whales, or snorkeling in the crystal clear water off Champion with myriad fish species? But today WAS right up there with all the unforgettable moments we have experienced this week.
A group of early risers paddled before breakfast along the northern coast of Española; they were escorted by sea lions and had, not only a lovely clear and sunny day, but a cool fresh breeze, too. Later, on our snorkel outing along Gardner Islet, the water was cool and the visibility excellent. We twirled and spun with playful sea lions, spotted a sting ray, saw into a cave and admired schools of colorful fish.
On the gorgeous white beach of Gardner Bay we strolled and frolicked in the turquoise water surrounded by resting, nursing and swimming sea lions. One can never take enough sea lion pictures; each pup poses and stares with its big liquid brown eyes and we are captivated and snap just one more frame. Cheeky endemic mockingbirds hop among us and onto our backpacks and towels, and a large billed cactus finch searches for food in the sand. The kids built impressive sand castles that the sea lions no doubt claimed as soon as we left. At noon more than half of our guests were still on the beach. No one wanted to leave! But we needed to move on to the afternoon’s visitor site at the western point of Española, so I coaxed the guests into the Zodiacs and we motored to the ship.
The final walk of the day and of the voyage began with disembarkation on the recently rebuilt dock at Punta Suarez. We were immediately thrilled to find the red and green marine iguanas, large endemic lava lizards, more adorable sea lion pups to photograph (of course), and several large fluffy blue footed booby chicks. Further along the rocky trail the blue foots were courting and incubating pale blue eggs, we passed through a Nazca booby colony, observed the blasting spray of the blow hole and enjoyed the antics of large juvenile albatross that are about to leave the island for months at sea. This was a magical day and a fabulous finale to our week’s exploration of the Islas Encantadas.
For footage from this day, please click here.
