Gardner Bay and Punta Suarez
Our first full day into our Galápagos expedition took us to Espanola Island. The oldest in the archipelago, this island is located in the southeast. It has a dramatic coastline which is constantly exposed to the southeastern trade winds. Espanola is very special as it has several endemic species not being found elsewhere in the Galápagos, like its unique species of mockingbird. This inquisitive land bird is often found patrolling the grounds of their territories, no matter who is there, nor how big! When we visited Gardner Bay and its beautiful sandy beach in the morning, we were able to observe this behavior, as several Espanola mockingbirds ran up and down in the middle of a Galápagos sea lion colony. It was pretty obvious the sea lions were oblivious to all this fuss: females just continued nursing their pups, males kept patrolling their harems, and pups were looking for playmates!
The sea temperatures are warm now, which is typical of this time of year, so we enjoyed it in various ways. Our swimmers at Gardner Beach were amazed at having curious sea lions around them, and our fearless snorkelers just had a wonderful time enjoying the wonders of the Galápagos underwater world. Many species of fish were to be seen around an offshore islet called Gardner. There were schools of razor surgeonfish, king angelfish, blue-chin parrot fish and Panamic sergeant majors amongst other species – and even a white-tipped reef shark was spotted by our novice snorkelers. Our kayakers also had a special time exploring these beautiful shores at their own pace.
The afternoon became a totally different experience. The National Geographic Endeavour anchored after lunch at Punta Suarez, considered one of the jewels of the Galápagos. And we quickly understood why. As soon as we set foot on the island, we were surrounded by amazing wildlife. Once again, we were mesmerized by the abundance of Galápagos sea lions, with lots of pups having the greatest of times playing in the tidal pools. The island is slowly turning green, this being the rainy season. It is also the breeding season for various species, like the endemic Espanola lava lizard and the marine iguanas. On this island the iguanas acquire a bright coloration during their mating season; their scales turn red and even aqua green. The most colorful ones are the males, of which we saw many on the rocks.
The walk took us inland and then on to the cliff area of Punta Suarez, where we reached wonderful landscapes. This afternoon, it was all about animal behavior. We walked through a Nazca booby colony which was already in the nesting stage: some birds were incubating eggs, others looking after very young chicks. A few blue-footed boobies were also found along the trail, while a Galápagos hawk observed his territory from the top of a bush, with a very solemn air. And we can name other species that we spotted in this unforgettable afternoon: Galápagos doves, Darwin finches, swallow-tailed gulls, red-billed tropicbirds and many others. This was a truly remarkable experience, and it’s only the beginning of our adventures in the Galápagos Islands!
