Española Island
Christmas in Galápagos…
It’s nine o’clock pm and we feel ready to go to bed, we have done so much today that it already seems we have been here longer!
What an unusual holiday! We started the day snorkeling around of the satellite islets of Española, playing with a curious sea lion was probably the highlight of the morning; although the beach afterwards was just amazing. Hundreds of sea lions that from a distance looked like rocks were sleeping all around us, the fearless of this creature breaks all kind of perceptions as we start to get absorbed by this enchanted group of islands.
We explored Punta Suarez with all its creatures in the afternoon. The marine iguanas and the Galápagos hawks greeted us as we started the walk from the landing area. The particularly curious mockingbirds gave me a chance to talk about how these creatures caught Darwin’s attention back in 1835 when he visited the islands. Inside the little beaches we had sea lion pups interacting with iguanas, blue-footed boobies courting and some lava lizards displaying their aggressive behavior to impress females. Everywhere we looked had some interesting action going on. Española being the oldest island of the archipelago has a high rate of endemism. There are only three species of Darwin finches found here, and were also present during part of the two-and-a-half hours we walked. The unevenness of the terrain did not stop us from getting excited about the wildlife on this island, so its no wonder why it’s a highlight of the everyone’s visit.
As I go to bed tonight, I am remembering the colors of the beach this morning, the silence of the snorkel with the tropical fish all around us, and the relaxed kayak ride along the coast of Gardner Bay.
