Galapagos Day 3

Today we visited Española, the southernmost and easternmost Island in the Galapagos.

We had a early start to try to beat the heat on our morning walk.  We loaded into the zodiacs at 7 and when we reached the dock, we entered a wonderland of birds, iguanas and sea lions before we had walked even 20 feet.  So  cool!

We soon reached a small beach where adult sea lions were sleeping and rolling around on the sand and a lot of juveniles were playing in the waves. 

Our two hour walk along the coast took us through a colony of Nazca Boobies - a cousin to the Blue-footed Boobies we saw yesterday which were also in great numbers at this location. On the cliffs above the sea were nesting places, with huge numbers of adults tending to their incredible fluffy white  chicks. We took MANY photos of the birds, documenting every phase of their lifecycle.

The walk was at a slow pace because the whole trail was over volcanic boulders of varying sizes.  We all got to use our walking sticks! Over the course of the walk it got a lot hotter, so we were all pretty exhausted by the end.

We had a pause before and after lunch, so we were able to rest a bit.  In the afternoon, we headed to a spectacularly lovely beach for snorkeling and sea lion watching.  It was really too rough for snorkeling, so Cheryl took a walk along the beach which was very lovely.  This beach was also populated by sea lions, a sea turtle and a few birds. We were all astonished that the white sand was not at all hot.

Later we relaxed on the covered deck and were treated to the Galapagos version of a  at sunset.

After dinner, Roberto spotted sharks off the back of the boat, so we had an extra wildlife viewing of black tipped sharks, sea lions and leopard eels) by flashlight.

Another eventful day!