For this beautiful morning, National Geographic Endeavour anchored at the north coast of the Island of Espanola; here at the northeastern coast lies a narrow, shallow bay called Gardner Bay. We planned a fantastic program, starting with deep-water snorkelers, followed by everyone else disembarking on the white sand beach of the bay from where we snorkeled, walked or kayaked.
By 8:00 in the morning we launched the Zodiacs, going out for deep-water snorkeling at Gardner Islet, a small cinder formation with a nice shallow-water coast where the snorkelers saw tropical fish, sea lions and more. On the other side, an important group of adventurers are disembarking at the beach of the bay located on the island of Espanola itself; they are surprised by a large number of sea lions lying on the beach peacefully, in harmony with an extensive organic white sand carpet. We went swimming, snorkeling, and also kayaking along the coast of the bay--what could be more enjoyable?
For our afternoon adventure, Endeavour was anchored at the most westerly point of the island of Espanola; here we encountered one of the greatest nesting areas visitors are allowed to see in Galápagos. We had a dry landing on nice-looking pier and from there we walked inland to see the action. First we observed blue-footed boobies dancing to impress their prospective mates. Then we were surrounded by Nazca boobies, finches and Galápagos doves. Then we reached the albatrosses’ nesting area and were lucky enough to see the mature and baby chicks; we continued along the path to see the fascinating landscapes and more of the natural attractions the island has to offer.
When it was time to leave and we were headed back to the landing site, trying to digest all what we have seen here, we realized it was not over yet. Just a few steps from the pier a female sea lion was delivering a pup! What an outstanding end to our visit. Now it is time to go back home, but what a great adventure we have had.
