Located in the southeast of Galapagos, Española Island is considered the oldest of the archipelago with no active volcanoes, but with an exuberant fauna.
In the morning, the weather conditions were excellent for snorkeling and kayaking, with a brilliant sun and a warm ocean. Our guests had the opportunity to discover incredible marine life during the snorkeling, observing many different species of colorful fish and playful sea lions. On the other hand, kayaking was impressive with blue footed boobies and mockingbirds fluttering among the rocks. While in the water, colorful invertebrates such as sponges, barnacles and sally light foot crabs were the delight of our guests.
After the first activities we headed to the white beach of Garner Bay. It was interesting to observe the tameness of the sea lions and their interaction with our guests who enjoyed taking pictures of them. In the air, Galapagos hawks looked for food, perhaps a marine iguana or a small bird.
It was 1:00 p.m. when we weighed anchor and started sailing to Punta Suarez at the western part of the island. We landed on a small dock and headed inland to discover another face of the island. It was very sunny, but it wasn’t an impediment to accomplish our mission of seeing the nesting places of Nazca and blue footed boobies.
The terrain looked flat, perfect to land and for nesting. We observed many Nazca boobies displaying their attractive courtship dances. Another group was on the naked ground nesting with their chicks showing their heads timidly, displaying their gular sacks and trying to avoid overheating. Little by little the heat began to decrease, the sky turned orange with many different kind of birds flying in the air. While in the horizon at the east, the last beam of sun lit our path to our home this week, our dear National Geographic Endeavour.
