Hood Island
Today we enjoyed a full day on the south-eastern most side of the Galápagos archipelago, Hood Island. Here, we had the incredible opportunity to see many different species that we haven’t seen during our current week. From the geological point of view, this is the oldest island in the Galápagos. With an estimation of four million years of age, several “endemic” species of animals and plants have been able to arrive and established successfully in this part of the archipelago.
We started our day on the north shore of Hood, on a very special location known as Gardner bay. Try to imagine a long, white sandy beach, and fill it up with many sea lions doing nothing else but enjoying the simple pleasures in life: resting, playing or simply sunbathing on the shoreline. In addition, the color of the water is amazingly light- turquoise and pleasantly warm. Taking advantage of the ocean water conditions, some of our guests went to what is known as “Turtle islet” for snorkeling. This small island happens to be full of several species of fish, and our guest enjoyed an adventure of a lifetime when finding white-tipped reef sharks, rays, sea lions and lots of sea stars just few feet beneath their legs.
After such a great snorkeling experience, we all met at the beach. Equipped with cameras and tripods, our guests enjoyed the rest of the morning among Hood mockingbirds hopping around the cameras, lava lizards fighting for territory and marine iguanas lying motionless on the sand
Our walk in the afternoon was set at the western side of Hood Island on a place called Punta Suarez. As we headed to shore, some sea lions claimed their territory and took over what it was suppose to be our landing site. This cemented dock looks very inviting when you are a sea lion looking for comfort. The sea lions “siesta time” ruined our possibilities for landing on the dock, instead, we choose not to disturb their dreams even when it meant for us landing on the rocky shore, but hey…anything to please the wildlife!
We finally manage to get onto the island and started our walk through a Nazca boobies’ nesting ground. The highlight of the walk was probably to see some of the chicks and newly hatched Nazca booby babies. This was also the last chance to take some pictures of sally light-foot crabs, while many marine iguanas were also observed showing their red and green colors, typical of the mating season.
During our walk we also found some of the last Galápagos waved albatross. Almost all of them are gone by now heading to their feeding grounds off shore the Ecuadorian and Peruvian coast. They will only return by the end of March to find back their mates, and start the breeding cycle again.
Just when we thought we had seen it all, the Galápagos hawk was spotted hovering around our heads looking for food.
When we finished with our walk, we came back to our home, the Islander, to enjoy and share some of the most wonderful memories and highlights during our voyage on these incredible islands. We all came into a single conclusion: this was an unforgettable experience; not only for us all, but especially for the young kids that we had onboard this cruise because it would enrich their lives forever.
Today we enjoyed a full day on the south-eastern most side of the Galápagos archipelago, Hood Island. Here, we had the incredible opportunity to see many different species that we haven’t seen during our current week. From the geological point of view, this is the oldest island in the Galápagos. With an estimation of four million years of age, several “endemic” species of animals and plants have been able to arrive and established successfully in this part of the archipelago.
We started our day on the north shore of Hood, on a very special location known as Gardner bay. Try to imagine a long, white sandy beach, and fill it up with many sea lions doing nothing else but enjoying the simple pleasures in life: resting, playing or simply sunbathing on the shoreline. In addition, the color of the water is amazingly light- turquoise and pleasantly warm. Taking advantage of the ocean water conditions, some of our guests went to what is known as “Turtle islet” for snorkeling. This small island happens to be full of several species of fish, and our guest enjoyed an adventure of a lifetime when finding white-tipped reef sharks, rays, sea lions and lots of sea stars just few feet beneath their legs.
After such a great snorkeling experience, we all met at the beach. Equipped with cameras and tripods, our guests enjoyed the rest of the morning among Hood mockingbirds hopping around the cameras, lava lizards fighting for territory and marine iguanas lying motionless on the sand
Our walk in the afternoon was set at the western side of Hood Island on a place called Punta Suarez. As we headed to shore, some sea lions claimed their territory and took over what it was suppose to be our landing site. This cemented dock looks very inviting when you are a sea lion looking for comfort. The sea lions “siesta time” ruined our possibilities for landing on the dock, instead, we choose not to disturb their dreams even when it meant for us landing on the rocky shore, but hey…anything to please the wildlife!
We finally manage to get onto the island and started our walk through a Nazca boobies’ nesting ground. The highlight of the walk was probably to see some of the chicks and newly hatched Nazca booby babies. This was also the last chance to take some pictures of sally light-foot crabs, while many marine iguanas were also observed showing their red and green colors, typical of the mating season.
During our walk we also found some of the last Galápagos waved albatross. Almost all of them are gone by now heading to their feeding grounds off shore the Ecuadorian and Peruvian coast. They will only return by the end of March to find back their mates, and start the breeding cycle again.
Just when we thought we had seen it all, the Galápagos hawk was spotted hovering around our heads looking for food.
When we finished with our walk, we came back to our home, the Islander, to enjoy and share some of the most wonderful memories and highlights during our voyage on these incredible islands. We all came into a single conclusion: this was an unforgettable experience; not only for us all, but especially for the young kids that we had onboard this cruise because it would enrich their lives forever.
