Hood Island
“That was amazing!” was the exclamation most heard after this mornings visit to Punta Suarez. Being the first walk of our trip, our guests were amazed to see so many animals doing so many things on every step of the trail. Most places in the world do not usually meet the expectations of the pre-travel description or the discovery channel special. Galapagos does!
“The blue-footed boobies were courting and mating left, right and center this morning. There was a newborn booby-hatchling (literally an hour old). There were newborn sea lion pups suckling, crying and coming up to us thinking we were their mothers. We even had a Galapagos hawk land abruptly in a tree three feet above our heads.
“Best of all though, was when our group managed to witness the lengthy feed of an albatross chick by its parent regurgitating. The giant chick kept on pecking on the tip of the bill of the parent in order to stimulate the reflex action. The parent had something to offer; otherwise it would have avoided its baby’s continuous tapping. After a few minutes, the parent’s beak opened and the food was transferred. In theory, a meal of fishy oil is given to the chicks and is able to sustain them for up to three weeks. When the transfer was finished the still-hungry chick continued with its tapping, but the parent soon moved away. Our group thought that we were truly in the right place at the right time on this morning’s walk. However, upon returning, we realized that everyone else had had their own, unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. It’s the way it is in Galapagos, but especially so for Hood Island!
“That was amazing!” was the exclamation most heard after this mornings visit to Punta Suarez. Being the first walk of our trip, our guests were amazed to see so many animals doing so many things on every step of the trail. Most places in the world do not usually meet the expectations of the pre-travel description or the discovery channel special. Galapagos does!
“The blue-footed boobies were courting and mating left, right and center this morning. There was a newborn booby-hatchling (literally an hour old). There were newborn sea lion pups suckling, crying and coming up to us thinking we were their mothers. We even had a Galapagos hawk land abruptly in a tree three feet above our heads.
“Best of all though, was when our group managed to witness the lengthy feed of an albatross chick by its parent regurgitating. The giant chick kept on pecking on the tip of the bill of the parent in order to stimulate the reflex action. The parent had something to offer; otherwise it would have avoided its baby’s continuous tapping. After a few minutes, the parent’s beak opened and the food was transferred. In theory, a meal of fishy oil is given to the chicks and is able to sustain them for up to three weeks. When the transfer was finished the still-hungry chick continued with its tapping, but the parent soon moved away. Our group thought that we were truly in the right place at the right time on this morning’s walk. However, upon returning, we realized that everyone else had had their own, unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. It’s the way it is in Galapagos, but especially so for Hood Island!
