During the night and early morning hours we navigated south and, just before dawn, anchored off the northern coast of the small, arid island of Española. This island is southeast of the rest of the archipelago and is considered to be the oldest and most isolated of them all. Interestingly, Charles Darwin never set foot on Española and, in a way, this is a shame; he would have been enthralled by the numerous endemic species found only on this island and nowhere else in the world! Today I encouraged everyone to observe closely the mockingbirds, lava lizards, and marine iguanas because they are distinct species that occur only on Española.
An eager group of early risers paddled out and back along the shore in bright yellow kayaks this morning while the rest of us slept in, or had fresh fruit and a cup of tea or coffee on the Teak Deck. It was a lovely day; perfect November weather with sunny skies and a cool breeze. Boobies, sea lions, and frigates were already active and the paddlers proved to be quite strong and in good shape because they determinedly fought the wind and made it all the way back to the ship!
After a bountiful breakfast we gathered in the lounge for a snorkel safety briefing and then went up to the sky deck where we tried on and picked up our snorkel equipment for the week. Giancarlo and Dawn led a dozen good swimmers on the deepwater snorkeling outing along Gardner Islet. The water was chilly but clear and they were delighted with the swirling sea lions and colorful fish of many varieties. Meanwhile, on the beach, guides Antonio and Jonathan assisted the beginner snorkelers in the shallows and I took a small group of walkers down the beach where we learned about the life history of the sea lions and took many photos. We saw a big male chasing the smaller males far out of his territory, while females suckled their pups. Other pups played and frolicked while waiting for their mothers to return. We left reluctantly at noon and, back on the ship, happily partook of a delicious Ecuadorian buffet lunch and a siesta.
The afternoon hike along a boulder trail proved to be an outstanding wildlife experience. We spent two hours observing sea lion pups in shallow tidal pools, reddish marine iguanas warming up before evening on the black rocks, Nazca boobies courting, a pair of Galapagos hawks, and elegant adult albatrosses doing some of their dancing and taking off from the cliff to soar above us. This flat, arid island was amazingly full of animals and birds!
Española mockingbirds hopped around our feet and our guides pointed out the three finch species found on this island: the tiny insect-eating warbler finch, the small-billed ground finch, and the large cactus finch. Many of us saw a long thin snake—the Española racer, yet another species found only on this island. We came to the cliffs above a blow hole where salt spray shoots out of a crack in a lava tunnel on the coast and we admired the soaring albatrosses as we sat for a moment on the rocks.
As the sun set and disappeared beyond the ocean horizon, a glowing orange ball in the cloudless sky, we boarded Zodiacs and returned to the ship. A full and exciting day we have had in the Islas Encantadas!
