Espanola

Didn’t sleep that well last night.  Started with the lights flickering when we turned them off.  Troy took the light bulbs out of the one over our bed so we could sleep.  Fell asleep after that, but then when we set sail we woke up again as the rocking went from side to side to back and forth. Took a Dramamine and all was well.

After breakfast, we headed out to a beach on Espanola.  There we saw tons of sea lions.  A Galapagos Mocking bird came right up to us.  He had no fear and I think he was more curious of us than we were of him.  We also saw a Galapagos Hawk, iguanas and other birds.

After the beach we went kayaking and snorkeling.  It wasn’t a big kayak trip, but we did see the Blue-Footed Booby, a sea lion cub and some other birds.  There weren’t too many fish as we were in a calmer place getting a feel for snorkeling.  Hopefully, tomorrow we will have better snorkeling.

In the afternoon, we went to a different part of Espanola and hiked through some boulders.  Not as difficult a hike as Machu Picchu, but you did need to be careful where you walked.  We saw more sea lions and a lot of birds including:  Nazca Boobies, Blue-footed Boobies, Swallowtail gulls, Oystercatchers, Galapagos doves, Galapagos hawks, Marine iguanas, Lava lizards and Wave Albatross.  The albatross come back to the island between mid to late April and when they land they trip over themselves.  When they find their partner (they stay with the same partner their whole life) they do a beautiful dance.

Back to Galapagos – 2011