Española Island
Located in the southeast of the Galápagos Islands, Española Island is considered the oldest of the archipelago, with no active volcanoes, but with exuberant fauna.
In the morning, the weather conditions were excellent for snorkeling and kayaking; with a brilliant sun and a warm ocean, our guests had the opportunity to discover incredible marine life during snorkeling, observing many different species of colorful fish and playful sea lions. Kayaking was also impressive, with blue-footed boobies and mockingbirds fluttering among the rocks, while in the water colorful invertebrates such as sponges, barnacles and Sally Lightfoot crabs were the delight of our guests.
After the first activities we headed to the white-sand beach of Garner Bay. It was interesting to observe the tameness of the sea lions and their interactions with our guests, who enjoyed taking pictures of them. In the air, Galápagos hawks looked for food – perhaps a marine iguana or a small bird.
In the early afternoon we weighed anchor and sailed to Punta Suarez at the western of the island. We landed at a small dock, then headed inland to discover another face of the island. It was very sunny, but it wasn’t an impediment to accomplishing our mission to get to the nesting places of the Nazca and blue-footed boobies.
The terrain looks flat, perfect for nesting; we observed many Nazca boobies displaying their attractive courtship dances, and another group on the naked ground nesting with their chicks, showing their heads and timidly displaying their gular sacks while trying to avoid overheating.
Little by little the heat began to decrease; the sky turned orange with many different kinds of birds flying in the air. On the horizon in the east, the last beam of sun lighted our path to our home during this voyage, our dear National Geographic Endeavour.
