Punta Suarez, Española Island
We spent a busy yet relaxing morning snorkeling, swimming, kayaking and strolling along the most beautiful white beach you can imagine: just add a scattering of sea lions to your mental image, both on the sand and rolling around in the surf with their human visitors, and you have Gardner Bay.
Once on board we repositioned to one of the natural highlights of the Galápagos: the trail at Punta Suarez, located at the western point of the island. The strong winds and currents of the area have carved the coastline into the most spectacular cliffs of lava, home to a great many seabirds. Blue-footed boobies nest alongside Nazca boobies; swallow-tailed gulls fly among the inimitable red-billed tropic birds; and, inland, impressive Galápagos hawks hover over the inquisitive and restless endemic mocking birds and many fluttering Darwin finches – it truly is an avian metropolis!
When, for a moment, we stop looking up and all around us, we come across another group of predominant Galápagos vertebrates: the reptiles. Española has its own species of lava lizard, the largest of the seven species found in the archipelago, as well as the most beautiful of the marine iguanas - Darwin obviously hadn’t laid eyes on this particular iguana in its breeding colours, as we did today, or we wouldn’t dared have called the Galápagos marine iguana “hideous”! This southern subspecies is red and black year-long, but seasonally develops a surprising turquoise colouration along back and legs, aimed at impressing the opposite sex.
Yet however much we enjoy the birds, reptiles, fish and scenery, there is one species that “steals the show” every time: the endearing and adorable Galápagos sea lions. It is impossible to resist their large dewy eyes, furry whiskered noses and clumsy antics on land (a stark contrast to their extraordinary grace in their element). I have lived and worked in Galápagos for nigh on eleven years now, so can officially state that one never, ever tires of them!
We spent a busy yet relaxing morning snorkeling, swimming, kayaking and strolling along the most beautiful white beach you can imagine: just add a scattering of sea lions to your mental image, both on the sand and rolling around in the surf with their human visitors, and you have Gardner Bay.
Once on board we repositioned to one of the natural highlights of the Galápagos: the trail at Punta Suarez, located at the western point of the island. The strong winds and currents of the area have carved the coastline into the most spectacular cliffs of lava, home to a great many seabirds. Blue-footed boobies nest alongside Nazca boobies; swallow-tailed gulls fly among the inimitable red-billed tropic birds; and, inland, impressive Galápagos hawks hover over the inquisitive and restless endemic mocking birds and many fluttering Darwin finches – it truly is an avian metropolis!
When, for a moment, we stop looking up and all around us, we come across another group of predominant Galápagos vertebrates: the reptiles. Española has its own species of lava lizard, the largest of the seven species found in the archipelago, as well as the most beautiful of the marine iguanas - Darwin obviously hadn’t laid eyes on this particular iguana in its breeding colours, as we did today, or we wouldn’t dared have called the Galápagos marine iguana “hideous”! This southern subspecies is red and black year-long, but seasonally develops a surprising turquoise colouration along back and legs, aimed at impressing the opposite sex.
Yet however much we enjoy the birds, reptiles, fish and scenery, there is one species that “steals the show” every time: the endearing and adorable Galápagos sea lions. It is impossible to resist their large dewy eyes, furry whiskered noses and clumsy antics on land (a stark contrast to their extraordinary grace in their element). I have lived and worked in Galápagos for nigh on eleven years now, so can officially state that one never, ever tires of them!
