Española Island
What a wonderful day we had today.
Española Island is one of the best places in Galápagos to see many different types of wildlife. This morning we disembarked on the western-most point called Punta Suarez, and along the trail our guests enjoyed taking pictures of the sea lions, extremely colorful marine iguanas and much more. We walked along the coastline and saw Nazca boobies nesting, some with chicks with their fluffy down feathers; we were also very lucky by finding our last two waved albatross. I can’t wait to see how long they will stay. Finally, a couple of Galápagos hawks gave us a warm welcome with their majestic presence. This was a fantastic morning outing!
Not only is the exclusivity of the animals (endemism) special, but also their lack of fear, as they showed indifference to our presence. This apparent tameness has many hypotheses, but we sure feel welcome as we enjoyed such a unique place in the world.
Not only are the land creatures worthy of our attention, but also the marine environment – it is just the only one of its kind! We have a vast variety of tropical fish species here, including surgeonfish, parrotfish, angelfish, sergeant majors, which were starting to spawn and mate as the seasons are changing. Today we saw a glimpse of the highest endemism among fish.
During a spectacular lunch, which is a delight for our guests, we lifted anchor and sailed about six nautical miles to the east to visit another impressive area of Española, a dazzling white beach bathed in turquoise waters. In the afternoon we had fantastic time exploring the underwater world of the archipelago, either by donning snorkeling gear or taking a glass bottom boat ride, and immersing ourselves in the swirling colors of hundreds of different reef fish. Kayak outings were also part of a variety of options for our tailored Galápagos expedition cruise.
We all came back on board and we talked about how special this place is. We are wondering if it could get better than this. Our expedition has just started and we are very eager to see what is next.
