Day 323: Isla Española
We booked a day-trip to Española Island, the southernmost island in the archipelago which is only a 3hr boat ride from San Cristóbal. The island is particularly famous for being the near-exclusive breeding site for the Waved Albatross – the only tropical breed of albatross. Every year, over 34,000 pairs of albatross return to Española to mate and lay one egg. Albatross also mate for life, so when they return, they must find their spouse (although a “widowed” bird will “remarry”).
This all sounded pretty cool to us – we were really excited to see the only type of bird we had missed so far during our exploration of the islands. However, there was one piece of information the booking agencies didn’t think to mention before we signed up for the tour: the albatross don’t return to mate until April, and the last of the baby chicks reached maturity and left the island in December. From January – March there is not a single albatross on the island. BOO!
Driving away from a cloud-covered San Cristóbal as we head to the southernmost island in the Galápagos – Española
Our tour started with an hour-long snorkel in Gardner Bay. Even though the water wasn’t terribly cold, the tour agency gave us shorty wetsuits to help keep the chill off while we were in the water. Unfortunately, the fins they gave Igor aggrevated his feet so badly that he stopped kicking altogether and only swam with his arms. We got yelled at by our guide for not keeping up with the group, who seemed to think speed is an asset in snorkeling. He claimed that we just missed a school of 50+ rays and a Hammerhead Shark because we were so far behind. Sure.
We jump into the water near a rock pinnacle for our snorkel – sadly, we’ve been spoiled by our diving and are not very impressed
We’ve seen hunderds of White-tip Reef Sharks at this point, but they are still so pretty and graceful!
Lunch was awesome, though. Best ceviche we had in Ecuador! And a pretty big portion, too. Sure, it was a bit early (only 11:30AM) when they served us – but I guess they didn’t want us to hike on an empty stomach. When our hosts asked if we wanted anything to drink with lunch, we started to decline as they had just served us juice with our post-snorkel snack, but they kept offering, “Water? Coke? Juice? Wine?”
Wine? Really? We looked at each other, “OK, I’ll have some wine!” Lindsay replied. Our host seemed a little surprised tha someone would actually take him up on his offer. He went inside the galley of the boat to get the wine. Up until now, all our our drinks (water & juice) have been served in normal plastic cups. When the guy returned with the (boxed) wine, he handed Lindsay a teeny tiny tasting cup and filled with with about a shot’s worth of wine. She didn’t ask for more.
An early lunch of ceviche, plantain chips and the smallest glass of wine ever!
After lunch, we changed into dry clothes and rode the panga over to the beach at Punta Suárez for our 1.5hr walking tour of the island. It was INSANELY hot. Española is one of the flattest and driest islands in the Galápagos and there is no shade anywhere along the trail. Luckily, the wildlife eventually distracted us from how uncomfortable we were, and the heat started to break about halfway through the walk. Even though we missed out on the albatross, the iguanas of Española were gorgeous and kinda made up for it.
Function over fashion! Lindsay opts for comfort even if Igor thinks she looks like a fool (whateva, I be stylin’)
Huge waves pound the rocky cliffs of Española
More boobies! The Masked Booby is the third and final booby we see in the Galápagos
Booby eggs! Masked Boobies typically lay 2 eggs at a time, so both of these birds proably have another one on the way in a day or so
Booby chicks! These guys may look sweet and innocent, but notice how there is only ONE chick – didn’t just say that boobies lay TWO eggs at a time? That’s because the stronger chick will kill the weaker sibling after it hatches in order to get all the food from its parents
You guys are murderers.
Wow – that is an ugly teenager! This juvenile booby is in the final staging of molting its baby down feathers. It can’t learn to fly until all the adult feathers have grown in – this poor guy looks so ready to grow-up
The marine iguanas of Española are by far and away the most colorful we have seen in the Galápagos (on most islands, they are plain black)
Notice how the iguana’s face is light-colored? Apparently that is due to salt residue that the iguana constantly sneezes out of its nose – the spray accumulates on the skin and, well, it’s not like these guys have a bathroom sink to wipe off their face…
The iguanas of Española are known for having red skin year-round, but they also turn bright blue along the ridges of their backs during the mating season in order to attract a mate (Hey! It worked for the Blue-footed Boobies, right?)
A blow-hole shoots up a huge plume of spray every minute or so
Española Island – in addition to being one of the oldest islands in the archipelago, it’s also one of the flattest. Since there is not much landmass to trap passing clouds, it gets the smallest amount of rain per year
Swallow-tailed Gulls
Lindsay and Igor taking in the harsh, rocky landscape of Española
A colorful little Lava Lizard perches on the tail of a marine iguana
Heading back to our speed boat for the LOOOOOOONG 3hr ride back to San Cristóbal
Too bad you didn’t see the mating rituals of the waved albatross. Those marine iguanas are so colorful…that’s amazing about the “murdering” Booby chicks. Igor great pictures of Lindsay by that spectacular blowhole.