The National Geographic Islander set sail and our destination was the oldest island in the Galapagos archipelago, Española.
During the morning we dropped anchor at a place called Gardner Bay. This place is a calm water bay with a perfect white sand beach. So after breakfast we took the Zodiacs to visit a place in the bay called Gardner Islet. As it was the first time in the water, we took every opportunity to discover the underwater world of the Galapagos. Nobody was disappointed with the number of fish found here, but the highlight of the whole snorkeling experience was finding baby sea lions that seemed to enjoy playing with us.
Later we went to the beach of this bay where there is a colony of sea lions that entertained everyone with their calls while some of the sea lion moms nursed their pups and territorial males securing their space on the beach.
Finally in the afternoon we moved to the opposite side of the island called Punta Suarez. This place is one of the most popular locations to visit in the archipelago because of the large amount of wildlife. The trail was rocky and it took effort to reach to the nesting colonies, but we did it! Nazca boobies and a few Blue footed boobies nest on the cliffs of this place, so when we arrived we saw some parents feeding their juveniles, chicks fighting with intruders, and males late in the season still trying to find a mate. Mockingbirds, gulls and even Galapagos hawks showed up to show what Galapagos represents as one of the last paradises on earth.
The trip has just started and there is a lot more that we will discover as we explore …
