The day started with a beautiful sunrise as we landed at Espumilla Beach, James Island, at 6:30 in the morning. The shoreline where we landed showed a few signs of sea turtle nesting activity; there were a number of tracks in the sand as well as numerous depressions where the green sea turtles had laid their eggs. The light was great for photography, so a group of guests went ashore on a dedicated photography walk searching for the best compositions. At the same time, we had another three groups of guests ashore that went on a nature hike, where they learned about the importance of mangrove ecosystems, and saw Galapagos flycatchers, Darwin finches, Galapagos mockingbirds and Galapagos doves.
After breakfast, by 10:30 am, the National Geographic Endeavour had changed her position to our new location at Buccaneers Cove. Here, the guests had different options to choose from. During the remaining part of the morning, we had a group of guests that went for a snorkeling outing and encountered large schools of yellow tailed surgeonfish, as well as some king angelfish, a couple of white-tipped reef sharks, a number of streamer hogfish, and of course several sea lions. We also had a group that went on a kayaking expedition alone the coast of James Island, where they were able to observe a Galapagos fur sea lion colony and a nice flock of Nazca boobies perched on an offshore rock. Soon it was time for lunch, so we headed back on board.
Right after lunch, the guests of the National Geographic Endeavour had the chance to ask questions about photography, as we offered a session with one of our photo instructors, and afterwards we had the chance to attend a talk about Charles Darwin and the foundations of the theory of evolution.
The action began again at 3:45 pm with two groups of nature hikers that went ashore to explore the trail at James Bay. The highlight of this activity was the Galapagos fur seal that the guests found on the rocky shores of this coastline. As the day was coming to a close, the sun generated great evening light for photography, so on the way back to the landing site, the guests dedicated their time to photographing landscapes and wildlife. We stayed on shore until about 6pm, and then it was time to return to the National Geographic Endeavour.
