Today the National Geographic Islander took us to Española, one of the oldest islands of the archipelago. Early in the morning, we anchored at Gardner Bay, in front of a beautiful sandy beach. While one group of guests went deep water snorkeling around Gardner Islet, another went to the beach where they were welcomed by a big group of Galápagos sea lions and the Española mockingbird.
Later, we enjoyed a wonderful Ecuadorian lunch while our ship repositioned to Punta Suarez. Lunch featured a great variety of traditional foods from both the coast and the Andes of this beautiful country, including ceviche, coconut fish, and suckling pig.
In the afternoon, we set foot on Punta Suarez, a paradise for observing seabirds. As we walked along the trail, we spotted Christmas iguanas, one of the seven subspecies of marine iguanas that exist in the archipelago, and one of the most colorful ones too. We then observed several waved albatrosses in flight. As we walked up the trail, we saw a few waved albatrosses, attempting to mate with the females that had just landed. And we spotted several nests and chicks of the Nazca booby, one of the three species of boobies that breed in the Galápagos.
Finally, the sunset at 6 p.m. was a perfect way to finish a wonderful day.
