Española Island
This morning most of us had the opportunity to sleep in a little bit: after all, we are on vacation! But I woke one family group of 7 and a friend, who had signed up for a pre-breakfast kayak with our Naturalist Daniel. What a delight to be out early on a calm sea, with a slight breeze, and to be escorted by cavorting sea lions as we paddled joyfully along the rugged coast of this beautiful island of Española.
Following breakfast the options continued: two Zodiacs of guests donned their wet suits and slid into the clear, cold waters off Gardner Islet for a final snorkel among colorful fish and the ever delightful sea lions. We could not get enough of the graceful underwater antics of these charming marine mammals and were reluctant to leave the water – except for the fact that we were quite thoroughly cold!
Another group of kayakers set out and they too were escorted by sea lions; meanwhile I had disembarked with a group of guests to the beach and we too were entertained by sea lions. There were more than three hundred sea lions resting, nursing, playing, fighting and defending territories along the white sand beach. The females are not quite ready to give birth and as a result the males are not quite ready to set up their territories. Once birthing begins, about a week later females will come into esterus and then the huge beach masters will vie for the choice sections of the beach where most of the females hang out.
Our afternoon hike – along the final rocky trail that we were to follow this week on our voyage in Galápagos – was fabulous! From the start, beginning with our struggles to chase away the sea lions who seemed to “own” the cement landing dock, ‘til the end, where we sat and gazed at the pounding surf on the dramatic cliffs that serve as a launching pad for the endemic waved albatross, this was a spectacular outing. We observed the large endemic lava lizards, the reddish marine iguanas, a hawk chick on its untidy nest, and boobies of all sizes and two species: both the endemic white Nazca and the blue-footed boobies were present. The lovely and interesting visit to Española was a fantastic end to what has been a marvelous week in las islas encantadas!
This morning most of us had the opportunity to sleep in a little bit: after all, we are on vacation! But I woke one family group of 7 and a friend, who had signed up for a pre-breakfast kayak with our Naturalist Daniel. What a delight to be out early on a calm sea, with a slight breeze, and to be escorted by cavorting sea lions as we paddled joyfully along the rugged coast of this beautiful island of Española.
Following breakfast the options continued: two Zodiacs of guests donned their wet suits and slid into the clear, cold waters off Gardner Islet for a final snorkel among colorful fish and the ever delightful sea lions. We could not get enough of the graceful underwater antics of these charming marine mammals and were reluctant to leave the water – except for the fact that we were quite thoroughly cold!
Another group of kayakers set out and they too were escorted by sea lions; meanwhile I had disembarked with a group of guests to the beach and we too were entertained by sea lions. There were more than three hundred sea lions resting, nursing, playing, fighting and defending territories along the white sand beach. The females are not quite ready to give birth and as a result the males are not quite ready to set up their territories. Once birthing begins, about a week later females will come into esterus and then the huge beach masters will vie for the choice sections of the beach where most of the females hang out.
Our afternoon hike – along the final rocky trail that we were to follow this week on our voyage in Galápagos – was fabulous! From the start, beginning with our struggles to chase away the sea lions who seemed to “own” the cement landing dock, ‘til the end, where we sat and gazed at the pounding surf on the dramatic cliffs that serve as a launching pad for the endemic waved albatross, this was a spectacular outing. We observed the large endemic lava lizards, the reddish marine iguanas, a hawk chick on its untidy nest, and boobies of all sizes and two species: both the endemic white Nazca and the blue-footed boobies were present. The lovely and interesting visit to Española was a fantastic end to what has been a marvelous week in las islas encantadas!
