Española Island
Española is the jewel in the crown of the Galápagos archipelago. We had a wonderful morning around Gardner Bay with kayaking before breakfast, amazing snorkeling with Galápagos sea lions that made our guests scream (with joy!), and hot chocolate waiting back on board
In the afternoon we landed at Punta Suarez at a jetty that was populated by sea lions that were very welcoming. Our trail took us through nesting colonies of blue-footed boobies and marine iguanas. We walked until we reached the Española blowhole. This location was spectacular because its spout of seawater with a spray that today reached up to 60 feet high. We saw lots of wildlife, such as reddish marine iguanas, curious mocking birds, lava lizards, and of course, sea lions.
Finally, the rocky trail took us on a loop to see nesting waved albatrosses, blue-footed boobies and the endemic Nazca boobies all together. Galápagos hawks escorted our way to the little tiny albatross babies.
The cliffs are near where the adult seabirds go to take off, so we enjoyed that magnificent sighting as well. We found some abandoned albatross eggs and many successful nests with babies and adults feeding. It was an incredible afternoon. Our last day in paradise of this expedition ended with a breathtaking sunset!
