Espanola Island
We left the rolling green hills of Floreana behind overnight, and awoke anchored alongside an entirely different scene: a flat, rocky islet with spectacular cliffs beaten by a wild-looking ocean.
This is the oldest island in Galápagos, all the way to the southeast and many miles away from the active hotspot that gave birth to it over 4 million years ago. As it was carried away on the Nazca plate, it went extinct and gradually started sinking below the surface and falling victim to time and erosion by winds and waves. It is now so low and flat that, for a long time, geologists thought it to be just a piece of sea bed uplifted along a fault line marked by the spectacular cliffs. Recent evidence of aerial lava flows, however, has proved that this was once an active Galápagos shield volcano in its own right. The south-facing cliffs and flat surface have made it a haven for several species of seabirds, as the whitewashed rocks prove to us!
Not only are seabirds everywhere here, but the fact that Espanola is the oldest island has also allowed the species that live here to evolve for more time, and many of the island’s inhabitants are endemic (unique) not only to Galápagos but to Espanola itself! Examples are the mockingbird, the lava lizard and the brightly coloured marine iguana.
We spent the morning snorkelling and relaxing among the Galápagos sea lions on what might just be the most beautiful long beach of fine white sand in the world, then tied on our hiking shoes in the cooler hours of the afternoon to walk the trails among boobies and gulls, courting iguanas and fearless mockingbirds to a viewpoint over the impressive Espanola blow hole. An unforgettable day.
We left the rolling green hills of Floreana behind overnight, and awoke anchored alongside an entirely different scene: a flat, rocky islet with spectacular cliffs beaten by a wild-looking ocean.
This is the oldest island in Galápagos, all the way to the southeast and many miles away from the active hotspot that gave birth to it over 4 million years ago. As it was carried away on the Nazca plate, it went extinct and gradually started sinking below the surface and falling victim to time and erosion by winds and waves. It is now so low and flat that, for a long time, geologists thought it to be just a piece of sea bed uplifted along a fault line marked by the spectacular cliffs. Recent evidence of aerial lava flows, however, has proved that this was once an active Galápagos shield volcano in its own right. The south-facing cliffs and flat surface have made it a haven for several species of seabirds, as the whitewashed rocks prove to us!
Not only are seabirds everywhere here, but the fact that Espanola is the oldest island has also allowed the species that live here to evolve for more time, and many of the island’s inhabitants are endemic (unique) not only to Galápagos but to Espanola itself! Examples are the mockingbird, the lava lizard and the brightly coloured marine iguana.
We spent the morning snorkelling and relaxing among the Galápagos sea lions on what might just be the most beautiful long beach of fine white sand in the world, then tied on our hiking shoes in the cooler hours of the afternoon to walk the trails among boobies and gulls, courting iguanas and fearless mockingbirds to a viewpoint over the impressive Espanola blow hole. An unforgettable day.
