JoGardner Bay & Punta Suarez, Espanola Island
This morning we dropped anchor off the Coast of Espanola Island. We disembarked early on a beautiful morning with those explorers who went out on a pre-breakfast kayaking outing; soft sun under beautiful skies and the sound of some birds welcomed these early risers. After breakfast we decided to explore “the blue heart of the planet” going on a snorkeling outing around Gardner islet (satellite islet of Espanola). As a naturalist, I have to admit that I have always loved the ocean and my favorite part of today’s snorkeling was when the sea lion pups came to play with us, blowing bubbles on our faces and doing all kinds of flips and twists underwater, entertaining us and making us feel like part of their environment. Being from the Galapagos, I will never skip the chance to snorkel with playful sea lion pups. The underwater rocky reef views were just gorgeous!
Right after our amazing time with sea lion pups, we headed onto this blue-turquoise waters beach to enjoy the shy sun, as it is always hiding and coming out within minutes during this time of the year. Hundreds of sea lions were napping along this white sand beach, while some of us were trying out snorkeling for the first time in the shallow water. This was a good time to relax and a great chance for photography.
After an “endemic” Ecuadorian lunch, the National Geographic Islander repositioned around the other side of Espanola, this time for us to visit “Suarez Point.” We had a dry landing on a small peninsula where the ocean waves were breaking onto the rocks with sally lightfoot crabs. As soon as we walked further into the island, a welcome committee blocked our path, these were numerous marine iguanas basking and getting some body heat, just a huge pile of black marine iguanas digesting their algae after diving down into the ocean. Colonies of sea lions were found at the white sand beaches in the area and we were lucky to see many small newborn pups hiding under the bushes waiting for their mothers to come back from fishing.
As we walked along the titan cliffs along the coast, we were delighted to find numerous Nazca boobies, nesting all over and swallow-tailed gulls getting ready for their night fishing. Some were just at the final stages of nesting and there were many juveniles around. At this site we were lucky to see Nazca boobies and blue footed boobies nesting round the same area, which usually doesn’t happen on other islands. We also saw the notable red throated looking Espanola female lava lizards, and the endemic hood mockingbird.
After enjoying the hike along some of the most beautiful cliffs, we finally got to the Waved albatrosses airport, an interesting place where these large elegant birds first land each season when they come back from the Pacific ocean waters. Many couples were found doing the most interesting courtship ritual I have ever seen; clicking their beaks, making some romantic sounds, a completely synchronized display happening right in front of us. All of a sudden we were watching a National Geographic documentary, alive.
The red skies were telling us it was time to head back to our ship and bring with us in our hearts the memorable, lifetime experiences we had on this island, as many of the species we saw here are unique to the island and found nowhere else on the planet. We certainly had an outstanding day in the Galapagos and off we kept our enthusiasm for the rest of the wonders that were waiting for us during the week.
