Located to the southeast of Galapagos is also the oldest island of the group. It’s one of the best sites in the world for sighting fauna, as it presents so much variety in such a small range of habitats.
The morning started with some groups going deep water snorkeling off a small island near Espanola where lots of underwater life can be observed without much effort. Colorful fish in schools, rays, sharks, and the always playful sea lions make the place and the activity so enjoyable.
Those that haven’t snorkeled depart for the beach for some intro tips and to help build confidence for other sessions to come. Even this is fun, as sea lions come close as if they are trying to teach us what they know about the topic.
Another way to enjoy Espanola is to grab the camera and take hundreds of pictures of sea lions lying on the sand, on break after diving for the best fish. There they are in all sizes and ages, some even get up as if asked to pose with such charm that everybody loves it.
This island seems to have the perfect combination of everything in one place: beautiful white sand, amazing water color, and above all its exquisite wildlife.
The afternoon comes and we all get ready to go out for a different adventure. This time we walk on hazardous terrain to get to see the most incredible wildlife all together. From the very beginning we come across marine iguanas sunbathing on the rocks for energy, sea lions napping for recovery and quite a few species of birds. One of them is endemic to the island and tends to come very close to people and surprises our visitors, the Española mockingbird is found only here on this island. Other animals are also unique to this island. The Espanola lava lizard is one, another is a subspecies of marine iguana, and the last but not least is the remarkable Waved albatross. It honors us with its presence at this time of the year for breeding only, as it goes back to the open ocean around December until next season, around April of next year.
We also see other nesting sea birds like Nazca boobies, blue footed boobies, and swallow tailed gulls among others. Without a doubt this is one of the best locations for fauna.
