Hood Island
Hood is the oldest island of the archipelago and also the southeastern-most one. We began our day with an optional early excursion to Gardner Bay where we encountered many Galápagos sea lions; some were sleeping while others played on the surf. The light in the early hours of the day was perfect for photography. We spent several minutes observing Hood mockingbirds trying to catch the flies from the sea lions.
After breakfast we returned to Gardner Bay to snorkel, kayak or ride in our glass-bottom boat. One way or another, we were able to explore this location above and underneath the sea.
This afternoon, after a short navigation to the westernmost realms of Hood Island, we arrived at Punta Suarez. We headed to the shore for a great walk, where we encountered Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, blue-footed boobies and the last six Galápagos waved albatrosses that are ready to depart for Peru. Most of the other albatrosses have already gone; it will be around the end of March and beginning of April when we will see them arriving here again. We also saw a pair of Galápagos hawks, which were very active; one of them constantly flew along the cliffs while gulls made very loud calls of distress as they noticed their predator in the air.
We ended our day with a very colorful and inspiring sunset.
