Wow! Today we had an absolutely spectacular show on the islands, at both the morning and afternoon visitor sites. Our morning's walk in Punta Suarez was spectacular, and very pleasant as some cloud cover kept the heat at bay. Among our welcoming committee were sea lions and spectacular marine iguanas in full breeding colors. Along the cliffs we strolled through large colonies of boobies and gulls, and we even, to the staff's great surprise, got to see the last couple of albatrosses! There are over 20,000 pairs of waved albatrosses that nest on Española during the cold season, this being the only place on earth the bird nests, other than about 5 pairs on Isla de la Plata, off the coast of Ecuador. Other than at breeding times, albatrosses never come into land, preferring to stay in the air or out at sea. By the beginning of January, most of the waved albatrosses have already migrated to the Chilean coast, and this last pair will undoubtedly leave within the next few days, so we were very lucky!
My personal highlight of the day, however, was during our afternoon's visit to a beautiful beach of fine, white, corraline sand. This beach is home to dozens of sea lions: females, males, juveniles and an extremely young pup that managed to capture the heart of all who set eyes on it. It was desperately searching for its mother (not to worry, female sea lions have to leave their pups for long stretches of time while they go off to feed) which saddened a few of our guests as she never appeared.
We all cheered up however, as the little one forgot it's worries and came to investigate us instead. It came right up among us and started sniffing everyone's feet, while bleating at us all. He played around with us for awhile, before tiring and returning to the waterline and his mother-quest.
These are the things that make Galapagos unique and make a trip to these islands unforgettable.
