Española Island
We started the day with a nice sun rise as we approached Española Island, one of the oldest islands of this “Enchanted Archipelago.” At eight in the morning we disembarked for a walk along a boulder-strewn trail, hoping to find a colony of blue footed boobies and view the Galápagos albatross. Wow did we ever find them! This week we even saw some tiny albatross chicks only a week or two old. They remained close to their large mothers, who weigh almost eight pounds and are 20 inches tall. The chicks are growing very fast as they have to be ready to fly by the last days of December.
We can not forget to mention the blue footed boobies. All along the trail there were tiny booby babies, and these were only one or two days old. Many nests still had the egg shells beside them, proof that the chicks had recently hatched. We watched the parents tenderly feeding and caring for their fragile young.
In the afternoon several groups went to Turtle Rock for snorkeling. This outing was phenomenal! We found many species of tropical fish in feeding frenzy, snake eels, and even marine turtles. I had the opportunity to film a stone scorpion fish that sat, very well camouflaged, on the rocky bottom. All the snorkelers came back very happy!
For the day’s finale, we took our guests to a beautiful white beach. The sand is so white and so fine that looks like flour. Here we found a colony of sea lions and I was able to get a picture of the huge beach master. As we returned to the ship the sun dipped behind the hills of Española Island. A great day!
We started the day with a nice sun rise as we approached Española Island, one of the oldest islands of this “Enchanted Archipelago.” At eight in the morning we disembarked for a walk along a boulder-strewn trail, hoping to find a colony of blue footed boobies and view the Galápagos albatross. Wow did we ever find them! This week we even saw some tiny albatross chicks only a week or two old. They remained close to their large mothers, who weigh almost eight pounds and are 20 inches tall. The chicks are growing very fast as they have to be ready to fly by the last days of December.
We can not forget to mention the blue footed boobies. All along the trail there were tiny booby babies, and these were only one or two days old. Many nests still had the egg shells beside them, proof that the chicks had recently hatched. We watched the parents tenderly feeding and caring for their fragile young.
In the afternoon several groups went to Turtle Rock for snorkeling. This outing was phenomenal! We found many species of tropical fish in feeding frenzy, snake eels, and even marine turtles. I had the opportunity to film a stone scorpion fish that sat, very well camouflaged, on the rocky bottom. All the snorkelers came back very happy!
For the day’s finale, we took our guests to a beautiful white beach. The sand is so white and so fine that looks like flour. Here we found a colony of sea lions and I was able to get a picture of the huge beach master. As we returned to the ship the sun dipped behind the hills of Española Island. A great day!
