Española Island
What a wonderful day we had today!
Our second day (but first full day) here in the “Enchanted Islands” was awesome, and the first thing to call our attention was the perfect weather. An outstanding gentle cooling breeze whispered against our skin and soothed us from the bright warm equatorial sun that brought all kinds of colors to life today: blue skies, turquoise to green sea water, black lava rocks and white sandy beaches – this was the backdrop for the day’s discoveries.
Our first landing on this beautiful island was made at Punta Suarez. It was a dry landing for a walk during which we approached marine iguanas, lava lizards, mocking birds, sea lions and our first Galápagos hawk – all this just by stepping down from our pangas! An overwhelming experience which is captured in the photos above.
Many more highlights awaited us, amongst which we must mention the waved albatross, the most prominent resident of Española Island. These enormous tube-nosed sea birds, majestic in the air yet funnily clumsy on land, immediately caught the attention of us all. They have just started finding their mates and laying the first eggs – a single egg per pair. Soon, we’ll have fluffy chicks out-staging their parents. Nazca and blue-footed boobies were courting and mating wherever we looked, trying to catch up with some of their neighbors that already have chicks.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, we realized that time had passed by very fast while we had such a good time. The show must to go on though, and therefore back to the ship where we simply couldn’t wait to share all these experiences with our new friends.
National Geographic Polaris repositioned from the west to the north-eastern part of the island, Gardner Bay, for our water activities; some of us went deep-water snorkeling, while others chose to disembark on a wonderful white sandy beach to take it easy with the sea-lions - we are on vacation in the Galápagos Islands, what a treat!
Different equipment was offered to meet our needs, from kayaks to a simple towel. Until the sun set on the horizon, a full wonderful day that will be imprinted in our minds for ever.
Our guests are now wondering how we are going to top this day, but our expedition has just started and I am sure this question will be come up again and again.
What a wonderful day we had today!
Our second day (but first full day) here in the “Enchanted Islands” was awesome, and the first thing to call our attention was the perfect weather. An outstanding gentle cooling breeze whispered against our skin and soothed us from the bright warm equatorial sun that brought all kinds of colors to life today: blue skies, turquoise to green sea water, black lava rocks and white sandy beaches – this was the backdrop for the day’s discoveries.
Our first landing on this beautiful island was made at Punta Suarez. It was a dry landing for a walk during which we approached marine iguanas, lava lizards, mocking birds, sea lions and our first Galápagos hawk – all this just by stepping down from our pangas! An overwhelming experience which is captured in the photos above.
Many more highlights awaited us, amongst which we must mention the waved albatross, the most prominent resident of Española Island. These enormous tube-nosed sea birds, majestic in the air yet funnily clumsy on land, immediately caught the attention of us all. They have just started finding their mates and laying the first eggs – a single egg per pair. Soon, we’ll have fluffy chicks out-staging their parents. Nazca and blue-footed boobies were courting and mating wherever we looked, trying to catch up with some of their neighbors that already have chicks.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, we realized that time had passed by very fast while we had such a good time. The show must to go on though, and therefore back to the ship where we simply couldn’t wait to share all these experiences with our new friends.
National Geographic Polaris repositioned from the west to the north-eastern part of the island, Gardner Bay, for our water activities; some of us went deep-water snorkeling, while others chose to disembark on a wonderful white sandy beach to take it easy with the sea-lions - we are on vacation in the Galápagos Islands, what a treat!
Different equipment was offered to meet our needs, from kayaks to a simple towel. Until the sun set on the horizon, a full wonderful day that will be imprinted in our minds for ever.
Our guests are now wondering how we are going to top this day, but our expedition has just started and I am sure this question will be come up again and again.
