Española Island

This island is located to the southeastern side of the archipelago. Being the second closest to the South America continent, it is considered the oldest by geologists. The shape of the island is almost flat due to the erosion over time, and it doesn’t have the typical shape of shield volcanoes anymore. Its age helped the flora and fauna to be unique in the whole archipelago — seven of these creatures are only found here. Finding them was our mission when we stared exploring this old geological formation.

Today started with an optional activity for early risers, this activity consisted in taking our kayaks to explore the cliffs of Gardener Bay. This geology formation is very impressive, plus we had many amazing sightings such as: Pacific green sea turtles were popping their heads out of the water breathing from time to time, some of them were mating as well; American oyster catchers; blue-footed boobies were plunge diving all over, while Nazca boobies were heading out to the open ocean for feeding as well. This without mentioning that pup sea lions came to play with our kayakers.

Later in the morning we went out snorkeling in Gardener Islet, which is off the coast of the main island, this area is great for our first experience in Galápagos waters, because its secluded bay with no current and clear waters. A second group went to the beach for snorkeling lessons to get ready for the coming days, we even had the opportunity to explore one of the most beautiful white sandy beaches in Galápagos. There were over 250 sea lions resting along the beach, a well deserved rest, because they catch fish by chasing them, some males were patrolling their territories and some females were nursing their pups, while other pup sea lions were playing with our youngest explorers.

For the afternoon we disembarked in Punta Suarez for two-and-a-half hour hike, and our main interest was observing the endemic waved albatross. We were very lucky because there were lots of juveniles flapping their wings and getting ready for their long journey out in the open ocean, they will come back in a few year once they get sexual mature.

The whole day was extraordinary and unforgettable.