Our expedition is heading south to a small island today. The Galapagos archipelago was formed around fifteen million years ago, but the islands we see today are not those formed that long back. The oldest islands of this beautiful archipelago are close to five million years. Espanola is our destination today, and along with the island of San Cristobal which we saw yesterday, they are the oldest islands. Although, they have been completely reformed from how they used to be. Española is an island with great attractions and today we get to see it all.
For the morning we have reserved a visit to a place called Gardener Bay. It is a fantastic area, shallow water with a beautiful color, the amazing ocean and the best scenery. To begin, we are sending out the deep water snorkelers, a group of adventurers that are going to go snorkeling off the Zodiacs to a places where the number one attraction is to play in the water with the sea lions, but that is far from the only attraction in the ocean. There are tropical and reef fish all around the area where many are enjoying deep water snorkeling. Another group is disembarking on a magical white sand beach, where sea lions are all over. Here, the idea is to practice snorkeling from the beach to brush up on snorkeling skills. And last but not least, kayaking is taking place along the coast of the bay to enjoy the scenery and beauty of the area in a relaxing paddling ride.
The afternoon expedition is taking place in another geographic location of the same island, Punta Suarez. Punta Suarez is one of the most popular stops in this well-known national park. The large nesting colony of seabirds is what made this place so famous, and the presence of the waved albatross is iconic to the park itself. The walk begins along the sandy beach but soon after we are walking inland looking for the area where albatrosses nest. It’s overcast but the weather is ideal to walk, as it can sometimes get very hot. Before we get to the nesting area we are looking for, we find a Galapagos hawk nest with a baby chick and its parents nearby – a great surprise. That was the moment we knew the visit was going to be especially great. We spotted albatrosses really close, babies, and also some that were dancing. Not too far we saw Nazca and blue-footed boobies too. The hours went flying by and we had such a great time. We can’t wait to see how special our next day is going to be.
