Española Island
After a long navigation from North Seymour Island on Saturday night we arrived this morning at the southeastern-most place of the Galápagos archipelago, Española Island. We were quite exited because this was going to be our first full expedition day in this wonderful paradise.
After a delicious breakfast we landed on the island and immediately found lots of wildlife – most of which are endemic not just to the Galápagos but endemic to Española Island. This is because the island of Española is one of the oldest, and it happens to have a high degree of endemism. It was also really special to see animal species that we won’t find later in the trip; the mist (locally known as garua) and the unexpected chill was something that also caught our guests’ attention. Our walk provided us all with a wonderful view of the cliff section of the island, watching marvelous volcanic landscapes with the arid vegetation covering it up. A group of waved albatrosses were found marching towards the edge of the cliff, ready to perform their mystical jump, and of course as they jumped, our cameras sounded in unison… click!
Later in the day we repositioned the ship to visit a long white sand beach situated on the northern part of the island. At this place our guests were offered a lot of activities, starting with deep water snorkeling and the glass bottom boat exploration and finishing with beach time and kayaking.
At the end of the day all of us had lots of stories to tell; most of these stories were about the close encounters that we all had with the wildlife of the island, especially with the Galápagos sea lions while in the water during our snorkeling and swimming. It is truly hard to believe that these animals are totally unafraid of humans, but that is simply the way it is in the Galápagos Islands.
After a long navigation from North Seymour Island on Saturday night we arrived this morning at the southeastern-most place of the Galápagos archipelago, Española Island. We were quite exited because this was going to be our first full expedition day in this wonderful paradise.
After a delicious breakfast we landed on the island and immediately found lots of wildlife – most of which are endemic not just to the Galápagos but endemic to Española Island. This is because the island of Española is one of the oldest, and it happens to have a high degree of endemism. It was also really special to see animal species that we won’t find later in the trip; the mist (locally known as garua) and the unexpected chill was something that also caught our guests’ attention. Our walk provided us all with a wonderful view of the cliff section of the island, watching marvelous volcanic landscapes with the arid vegetation covering it up. A group of waved albatrosses were found marching towards the edge of the cliff, ready to perform their mystical jump, and of course as they jumped, our cameras sounded in unison… click!
Later in the day we repositioned the ship to visit a long white sand beach situated on the northern part of the island. At this place our guests were offered a lot of activities, starting with deep water snorkeling and the glass bottom boat exploration and finishing with beach time and kayaking.
At the end of the day all of us had lots of stories to tell; most of these stories were about the close encounters that we all had with the wildlife of the island, especially with the Galápagos sea lions while in the water during our snorkeling and swimming. It is truly hard to believe that these animals are totally unafraid of humans, but that is simply the way it is in the Galápagos Islands.
