Española Island
The adventure of today at Española Island was a spectacular display of a natural symphony of sea birds, and the splendor of the place was experienced since the very first moment we began our exploration. Gardner Island was the best way to begin the exploration as we went deep water snorkeling. Once into the water, a completely charming world was revealed to us: reef fish of many different colors swimming around, playful Galapagos sea lions moving towards us, and a colorful cliff made it perfect for this activity.
Once back on board the National Geographic Islander, Gardner Bay Beach was ready to receive us with its splendor. As soon as we arrived, the wonders of nature were shown in a big sea lion colony. Sea lions of many different sizes were all over the beach as if they were congregating for an important meeting. As an additional companion, the hood mockingbird was very curious to our camera lenses. Once back on board, we enjoyed a delightful Ecuadorian buffet lunch as we sailed to our next destination.
In the afternoon our explorations got even better as we visited a fantastic site were sea birds are delightful company: Punta Suarez. During our arrival at Punta Suarez our welcome companions were the Sally Lightfoot crabs that covered the rocks into a red color. Farther into the trail, blue nazca boobies played a symphony of sounds as they were nesting on the rocks and swallow tailed gulls made a perfect combination of natural colors by populating the entire cliff area. But the main attraction was definitely the waved albatrosses that showed their entire splendor as they tried to jump off the cliff. On the way back, baby sea lions on the beach surprised us as they were very playful with each other.
At the end of the adventure, we enjoyed a splendid landscape while watching the emblematic National Geographic Islander as background. Española Island was definitely a marvelous experience that we had today at the Galapagos Islands.
