Early in the morning our guests went kayaking along the coast of Española and had a great adventure. The wind gently pushed us, and the visibility of the water made spotting sea turtles and fish easy. Far off the coast everyone spotted a small pod of bottle-nosed dolphins.
After breakfast some guests went ashore to a gorgeous white sandy beach at Gardner Bay. This place has a numerous colony of Galapagos sea lions. We saw several individuals sleeping on the beach, and some juveniles were playing and body surfing.
On Española Island, we have some endemic species of birds such as the very inquisitive Española mockingbird. We were followed all morning long and our bags were inspected by some curious juveniles.
During the afternoon, we went to the western most point of the island. There our guests chose to go on a long hike or a short. We were delighted by a couple of young male Galapagos sea lions that were play fighting, but things turned more serious. After having a bit of a rough encounter, one walked away while the winner stayed on its small piece of territory.
One of the birds we can only find on Española Island is the Galapagos waved albatross. We had a good time observing some couples dancing in the distance while other birds rested near the trail.
