Thursday, May 5, 2016

Espanola Island

Thursday, April 28- Espanola island, Punta Suarez, and Gardner Bay. It is an early breakfast before our hike today.  We leave the ship at 7:00 for a 3 hour hike. Upon our arrival there are sea lions, Sally light foot crabs, and marine iguanas to greet us.


This is a very rocky trail walking on lava rocks. There is a good climb but well worth it as there are Nasta and Blue footed boobies everywhere along with other sea birds. The views were amazing and the cliffs reminded me of Cape Breton only in a dark black colour. 

The blue footed boobies were busy courting. They do a little dance to attract a mate.



Nasta boobies.

a duck, not sure of the exact name.

The waved Albatross are here also and it is mating season. We actually see a couple mating, an egg, and other females nesting. 



The two lovers.

Same couple. They were so cute.


Albatross egg. It was left alone but our guide said that it could live a few days without being covered as long as there were no predators such as hawks. 

Ron siting near the edge.



Beautiful view.




Blow hole.
After this amazing hike we were back on the beach regaling in a few curious sea lion pups. One  of them came right up to us and sniffed around.




We return to the boat to get our gear and go snorkeling. The water is a bit rough but still manageable. There are hundreds of fish, some eagle rays, a sea lion. It was, once again, out of this world. We return for lunch. We are very spoiled with an amazing chef. The food is so tasty and lots of it. We then relax until 2:15 and then we pull on our wetsuits again to take the second plunge of the day. The bravest of our bunch head out to look for hammerhead sharks, while four of us go to a calmer area to see what we can find. Everyone was elated after the snorkel as the adventurers did see one hammerhead, some spotted eagle Rays, and Galápagos sharks and the smaller group saw a medium size sting ray, giant angel fish, and much more.


Sting ray.




Giant angel fish 



Concentric puffer fish 

We return to the ship and there is hot chocolate and cookies. Around 4:30 we have another opportunity for boarding and kayaking. Ron and I head out on the board.  We  see sea turtles and sea lions. Back to the boat to hang out and watch the setting sun before dinner.



Relaxing on deck looking for more wildlife.


Another setting sun. 
After supper we have our regular update with Darwin. All of a sudden we heard that there are baby turtles near the boat. We get our flashlights and head out. The little guys are everywhere. So cute. Some of the passengers had been on the beach today and had noticed the turtle nests. Well, the young ones were leaving the nest. After a few minutes of enjoying this scenery Darwin yelled out, sharks. They were swimming all around our boat probably waiting to snack on the turtles. It was amazing. Even the crew and guide don't see this very often. They were Galápagos sharks. 
Can't wait for tomorrow. Every day is so unique and incredible. Loving this trip!! 


1 comment:

  1. So loving reading your blog. I want to go back! Can't wait to see all your pics. Hope you got the camera working as you have a couple of underwater pics today. See you soon

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