Early on Sunday morning, the National Geographic Endeavour anchored at the northeastern point of Espanola Island. Gardner Bay is a small shallow bay decorated by a nice white sand beach, where sea lions resemble rocks from a distance. Here, our explorers chose from a variety of activities, such as deepwater snorkeling, snorkeling from the beach, and kayaking.
For deepwater snorkeling, we headed to Gardener Islet, a location with a colony of sea lions ready to play and perform all kind of acrobatics. We had a blast in the water. The visibility was excellent and the schooling tropical fish gave a nice colorful touch to a great underwater experience. The other group of explorers had a great time on the beach, where sea lions allowed photographers to get up close. Meanwhile, the kayakers explored the coast of Española, a paradise-like location.
After a great morning of exploration, we got ready for the next part of the excursion in the most westerly point of the island.
At three in the afternoon, at Punta Suarez, we divided into groups: those taking a long hike and those taking a short hike. Punta Suarez is an example of the greatness of the fauna in the Galápagos archipelago. This place is the nesting site for a surprising number of birds, including mockingbirds, blue-footed boobies, and albatrosses—and they all appeared along the trails we walked on. We had a chance to enjoy a great nature photography session, while also learning about what we saw from our expert naturalists.
We ended another great day in the Galápagos, full of excitement about our next adventure the following day.
