On Monday, at six o’clock in the morning after a smooth navigation, the National Geographic Islander anchored in the shallow waters off Espanola Island, one of the most well-known visitor sites here at the oldest island in the archipelago. Gardner Bay was our first destination, and by 6:15 a.m. the explorers were ready on Zodiac to go kayaking along the coast of this beautiful bay. The scenery and topography are inspiring here, and all kayakers were soon paddling with turtles and sea lions close to them, increasing the joy of this early morning activity.
We went back for breakfast and after the snorkeling safety talks everybody was suited up to go deep water snorkeling and to have a wet landing on the beach. This was our first opportunity to go in the water with the sea lions that are always playful and to swim with beautiful tropical fish. At the beach the explorers were fascinated by the number of sea lions peacefully distributed all along the beach. We came back to the ship to have lunch afterwards and to navigate to the most westerly point of the island, Punta Suarez.
By 3:00 p.m. we were organized by groups and we disembarked at the pier by the visitor site. We then took a walk on the island which made a great impression on all of our explorers, seeing many kinds of birds nesting and playing actively. Further along the path there was more to see and talk about: waved albatrosses nesting and taking care of their babies, Galapagos hawks hunting, blue-footed boobies dancing, and Nazca boobies singing. Everyone realized was a special island this really is, and walked back to the landing site wondering what tomorrow would bring.
