Española Island
Our first full day in Galápagos was marvelous! Under a cool grey sky shortly after sunrise a lucky thirteen of us joined naturalist Sofia for early kayaking along the northwestern coast of the island. We paddled just off shore and enjoyed seeing sea lions, sea turtles, and various seabirds that, like us, were up early and already going about their business. It was a joy to be surrounded by wildlife and to explore this uninhabited, rocky shoreline, and there was much camaraderie, contentment and laughter among our group of ladies this morning. What a great way to start off the day!
Following a hearty breakfast buffet I gave a snorkel safety briefing and we discussed the joys of snorkeling in Galápagos. Here we are not just hoping to find fish and colorful invertebrates; when we are lucky we find birds, reptiles, and mammals on our snorkeling outings! This morning most of us went out in three Zodiacs to snorkel along a small, offshore islet named Gardner. And we were VERY lucky today. In no time we found ourselves surrounded by curious and friendly “teenage” sea lions. They appeared to be as delighted by us as we were by them, and they swam playfully and twirled gracefully around and among us for almost an hour.
Meanwhile at the beach, those new to the sport of snorkeling were practicing in the shallows. Later everyone came in to the beach where we enjoyed watching the antics of a couple hundred sea lions of all sizes. Again, the larger pups—most of them by now several months old—were the ones that put on the best show. They reminded us of puppies, jostling, chasing, and nipping one another as they rolled in the surf just meters from us.
We strolled on the fine white sand, photographing these charming marine mammals as they rested, swam, played, and nursed. Mockingbirds, a species which is endemic to this island alone in all the world, squawked and hopped and investigated our backpacks and towels. The Española mockingbirds—one of four endemic species of mockingbirds that are found in the Galápagos—are particularly curious and aggressive; they live on a small arid island and so they must be always on the lookout for food to survive. I had explained that we want to be careful not to provide these birds with any food or water as they need to be totally self-sufficient in their natural habitat.
After lunch and a siesta, our Lindblad photo instructor Fernando Sanchez gave a presentation to the group on Nature Photography and he and Aura (who is also a certified photo instructor) helped our guests to better understand their cameras. Then we headed to Punta Suarez which is truly a photographer’s paradise! Thank goodness for digital photography—we took countless photos this afternoon of sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards, doves, finches, blue-footed, and Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, Galápagos hawks and the elegant, endemic waved albatross (and their large eggs). The steep scenic cliffs and spouting blow hole were also much photographed this afternoon.
The trail was rough and rocky and we moved along slowly but what a marvelous two hours we spent among these unique and fearless birds and animals. We watched them feeding, resting, incubating eggs, nursing their young, interacting with one another and even mating! It is a joy and a privilege to be able to walk among wild creatures that are unafraid of us and no matter that we all knew that we would experience this in the enchanted islands of Galápagos; it is almost unbelievable to be here and witness the beauty and innocence of these islands and their creatures firsthand.
