Gardner Bay and Punta Suarez on Española Island
Marvelous, wonderful, stunning, breath-taking; there are many words to describe this day! From sunrise to sunset, the island of Española is certainly the best island in the whole Archipelago.
Shortly after breakfast we jumped into the cold nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current, first swimming against it and then with it; it does not matter, the symphony of sounds we were able to hear under water was just amazing. Sharks, king angel fish, barber fish, parrot fish and even an octopus made of this the most wonderful underwater experience.
In the afternoon, the naturalist took us to the westernmost extreme of the Island, Punta Suarez. All of us decided that this was the richest wildlife place that we have visited during the week. The Galápagos hawk, the top bird of prey, was nesting not too far away from the waved Albatross' own nesting colonies. The waved Albatross, the third largest in the world, comes to the Island of Española exclusively between April to December for mating, taking advantage of the Humboldt Current and the trade south-east winds that help them both feed and to be airborne. Their mating ritual can not be described as a simple courtship dance, but rather an elaborate wedding dance ritual, performed several times with the chosen mate. It was also wonderful to have seen the blue-footed boobies performing their courtship dance, since unfortunately for the past eight years they haven’t been that successful when it comes to breeding at this specific region.
Sunset finds us making our way back to the Islander, as we were watched by a male hawk perched on top of a nearby lighthouse, as if he was making sure that we leave his domain.
Marvelous, wonderful, stunning, breath-taking; there are many words to describe this day! From sunrise to sunset, the island of Española is certainly the best island in the whole Archipelago.
Shortly after breakfast we jumped into the cold nutrient-rich waters of the Humboldt Current, first swimming against it and then with it; it does not matter, the symphony of sounds we were able to hear under water was just amazing. Sharks, king angel fish, barber fish, parrot fish and even an octopus made of this the most wonderful underwater experience.
In the afternoon, the naturalist took us to the westernmost extreme of the Island, Punta Suarez. All of us decided that this was the richest wildlife place that we have visited during the week. The Galápagos hawk, the top bird of prey, was nesting not too far away from the waved Albatross' own nesting colonies. The waved Albatross, the third largest in the world, comes to the Island of Española exclusively between April to December for mating, taking advantage of the Humboldt Current and the trade south-east winds that help them both feed and to be airborne. Their mating ritual can not be described as a simple courtship dance, but rather an elaborate wedding dance ritual, performed several times with the chosen mate. It was also wonderful to have seen the blue-footed boobies performing their courtship dance, since unfortunately for the past eight years they haven’t been that successful when it comes to breeding at this specific region.
Sunset finds us making our way back to the Islander, as we were watched by a male hawk perched on top of a nearby lighthouse, as if he was making sure that we leave his domain.
