Known to us today as Española, or Hood Island, it was named by English pirates back in the 1700s. It is one of the oldest islands of the enchanted archipelago. About four million years had given animal species more time to evolve in isolation, as this particular environment is home for some endemics of its own.
The mockingbird of Española is one of the four present on the islands. Interesting enough, and being only four, they are one of the species that got Darwin’s attention back in 1835. As he collected three out of the four of them he was able to see the physical differences on them, he realized that something strange must be happening in this place, “there is a difference between the inhabitants of the different islands”…
As we continued to walk among the trails that where once Pahoa-hoe lava flows, we had a chance to see the entire breeding cycle of the Nazca Boobies: couples courting, couples making a nest, couples preening each other, parents incubating eggs and finally parents shifting turns to protect brand new chicks before the Galapagos Hawks that were wondering around even noticed them.
As we get back on board we understand that this fragile ecosystem needs to be protected and conserved in time, not only for us to see, but for animal species that belong here and nowhere else.
