The Galapagos-Espanola Island

Espanola island is considered by many the most beautiful island because of the diversity of wildlife, the striking landscape, and stunning beaches. We parked our boat first at Gardner Bay and panga boated inland towards the brown spotted beach. The brown lumps scattered all over the beach turned out to be sleeping sea lions dozing off in the morning sun. We tried not to disturb their sleep and I wandered about mimicking their poses trying to be just like a sea lion. We were the only tourists on the white coral sandy beach and the sea lions didn't seem to mind our presence. I couldn't believe how close I could get to them and they would just look at me funny as though I was just another “thing” blocking their light. After an hour and a half of watching sea pups suckle their mothers, the bulls fight off their territory and the majority just lounging around, we went snorkeling.



Under water, I watched a white tip shark cuddle with her babies under a rock and colorful fish swim by looking for food. I noticed that sharks swim with their hips in a very pronounced swaddle back and forth. I wasn't worried about being near them since they are vegetarians. Eventually, I made my way back to shore to lounge some more with the sea lions. We then headed back to our parked boat for some first class refreshments and lunch and motored onto another part of the island.

At Punta Suarez, we hiked around passing marine iguanas recharging in the sunlight. The marine iguanas eat algae off of rocks under water and then lay around gaining their energy from the sun. They snort out the salt through their noses which is why their faces are often white. This motion resembles stories of fire dragons and they kind of look like miniature versions of them. I tried unsuccessfully to mimic a marine iguana, but my hands are not pointing in the right direction.


We continued past blue footed boobies. Their feet really are blue although the females have a slightly lighter blue feet. The blue footed boobies are famous for their unique mating ritual that I actually witnessed. They pick up one foot at a time in a dance and then bow with wings spread apart. The female repeats the same ritual. They are so cute to watch!



During March to January, the Wave Albatross nest on Espanola island and also conduct mating dances. I felt very lucky to witness their mating ritual as well. They bow to each other and then sword fight with their beaks. I watched as one male sword fought with two different females probably debating which of the two is the better sword fighter and therefore better mate. They mate for life and so they need to be sure that they are picking a good one.



At a scenic spot, I just balanced off the cliffs, chilled and watched the birds overhead fly above me while the waves crashed against the rocks.