Espanola Island
We had a wonderful time today visiting Espanola island, also known as Hood Island. We enjoyed the very refreshing breeze, characteristic of this time of year, as well as the many great sightings of the day.
Our day started on Punta Suarez where we encountered sea lions, Nazca boobies and blue-footed boobies. We also observed a couple of Galápagos hawks nesting on the rocks. At the beginning it was only one, but suddenly the mate arrived and we saw when they exchanged places so the one that was incubating could leave to eat and rest.
We also found some Galápagos waved albatross chicks, the first I have seen since the beginning of their nesting season. These babies shall be ready to take off from Espanola by December, when all of them go to the seas in front of the Peruvian coast to eat and rest for 3 months.
The afternoon was very exciting as our guests participated in the Polaris Olympics, organized to celebrate the fourth of July. We had two teams: the boobies and the united colony of sea lions; they participated in different competitions and families had a great time as you can see in the picture. Our competitors were so excellent that both teams won the first prize.
Some of our guests were very keen about the water activities; perhaps it was this couple of very playful sea lions that encouraged them to spend almost 3 hours playing in the water.
During our evening recaps we all had a wonderful time together sharing the different moments we had along the day and learning a little more about this enchanted place.
We had a wonderful time today visiting Espanola island, also known as Hood Island. We enjoyed the very refreshing breeze, characteristic of this time of year, as well as the many great sightings of the day.
Our day started on Punta Suarez where we encountered sea lions, Nazca boobies and blue-footed boobies. We also observed a couple of Galápagos hawks nesting on the rocks. At the beginning it was only one, but suddenly the mate arrived and we saw when they exchanged places so the one that was incubating could leave to eat and rest.
We also found some Galápagos waved albatross chicks, the first I have seen since the beginning of their nesting season. These babies shall be ready to take off from Espanola by December, when all of them go to the seas in front of the Peruvian coast to eat and rest for 3 months.
The afternoon was very exciting as our guests participated in the Polaris Olympics, organized to celebrate the fourth of July. We had two teams: the boobies and the united colony of sea lions; they participated in different competitions and families had a great time as you can see in the picture. Our competitors were so excellent that both teams won the first prize.
Some of our guests were very keen about the water activities; perhaps it was this couple of very playful sea lions that encouraged them to spend almost 3 hours playing in the water.
During our evening recaps we all had a wonderful time together sharing the different moments we had along the day and learning a little more about this enchanted place.
