By the time our guest woke up, the National Geographic Islander was already anchored at Gardner Bay on Española Island. The day started with a beautiful sunrise and some of our guests began this day with a stretching class. After a delicious breakfast our guests had a snorkeling and kayak safety talk and got their snorkeling gear from the expedition staff of the National Geographic Islander. Once our guests had their gear we went on a snorkeling outing to explore the waters off of the cliffs of Gardner Islet. This was a really fun experience for everybody since we saw many different species of fish. We swam with parrot fish, creole fish, Mexican hogfish, giant hawk fish and schools of black striped snapper. After snorkeling everybody got back on board and changed very quickly because we still had time to go to the beach on Gardner Bay where we observed a good size colony of Galapagos sea lions. After the excursion It was time for lunch so we headed back on board.
The action began again at 3:30 pm at Punta Suarez, Española Island. After a dry landing everybody went on a hike that lasted until sunset. The highlights of this afternoon were the Galapagos marine iguanas and different species of seabirds that we found during this hike. At the landing site we found a good number of marine iguanas that were basking on the rocks after feeding in the ocean. Once on the trail we found a flock of waved albatross that were performing a complicated and fun courtship dance. We also saw swallow tailed gulls, Nazca boobies and red billed tropic birds. Of course our guests had the chance to learn about the natural history of all these species from the Naturalists of the National Geographic Islander. By 6:15 pm everybody got back on board and everybody united at the main lounge for snacks and drinks. It was a very full and exciting day!
