Española Island
The expedition is coming to an end…
What an extraordinary adventure we have had this week. From having witnessed thousands of plankton floating around Bartholomew’s Pinnacle, to a humpback whale and her calf breaching as we were about to snorkel! And in between extraordinary sightings of marine and land animals.
This morning we had an early start with kayakers paddling around Gardner Islet.
Afterward, we had another delicious breakfast and prepared ourselves for our last snorkeling outing!
Water temperature was in the mid-sixties, and here we enjoyed for the last time swimming with Galápagos fish and playful sea lions! On land, a couple hundred sea lions relaxing at the beach as the endemic Española mockingbird walked among them.
Having enjoyed this very active morning, we returned to National Geographic Islander for lunch and continued to our last visitor site, Punta Suarez.
Here, we found the nesting grounds for the biggest seabird in Galápagos, the waved albatross. We have hiked among nesting blue-footed and Nazca boobies. Red-billed tropic birds where chirping right above us, with their frenetic flight, and in the distance, the roaming of Española blowhole was spraying the cliff side.
Upon arrival, we witnessed the albatross chicks, born only few weeks ago, as parents fed within the Galápagos marine reserve.
Having explored this rookery, we returned to the National Geographic Islander for our last ride to the airport.
Galápagos has given us all with close encounters of nature that we’ve enjoyed, especially our young explorers. We hope to see them again, in the near future...
