Espanola Island
Espanola Island is one of the oldest and greatest formations in the entire archipelago. Many of the known endemic species arrived here before anywhere else in the Galapagos. This has been proved many times by DNA studies of the land tortoises from different specimens found here.
It seems to be that the Humboldt ocean current is responsible for bringing the primitive creatures to the closest point from South America in a relatively short time. Then they diverged into the different races as they drifted from one Island to the next one. Of course every spot is different because of the terrain and flora available. Also, the amount of precipitation was a determining factor in the survival.
To wake up every day and see a guest smile is a reason to be inspired for what we do every day as a team. Gardner’s Islet was the first place we visited. Our first snorkeling experience was best in relatively murky water. We saw a lobster sneaking between the barnacles thinking that nobody saw him, at the same time a jewel moray removed the sediment in search of little crustaceans. We don’t see these creatures every day. Gardner Bay is based on old basaltic flows and pure organic sand made of shells and corals where sea lions spend up to 18 hours a day resting to recover from deep diving activities after hunting fish. W saw many babies and juveniles playing along the shoreline. Some Galapagos hawks flew very low, curious about the colorful towels we left in the sand.
The afternoon in Punta Suarez was spectacular; the Espanola marine iguanas posed in front of our cameras as they warmed up after a long dive in search of seaweed. Nazca boobies and blue footed boobies flew along the cliff in search of food for their young.
We spent a great time enjoying nature.
