Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip - Española Island, Galapagos - Walking where Darwin didn't
We awoke as we arrived at Española Island, one of the oldest islands in the archipelago. This is one of the few islands in the Galapagos that Charles Darwin never visited, but we did!
This morning was a split morning for us. Arlona kayaked while I did a beach walk. Then, we met up and snorkeled for the rest of the morning.
Arlona's kayaking journey was fast-paced with little chance to take photos along the way. She did see one green & red Christmas iguana but they couldn't get photos.
She did get photos of one Nasca booby perched high on a rock.
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| After kayaking, they all loaded into Zodiac and joined the rest of us on the beach. |
While Arlona was kayaking, I joined a group on a beach walk. Unfortunately, not much wildlife was out this morning. Of course, the requisite sea lions were lying all over the beach.
The beach area is lovely with dazzling white sand contrasted with the dark black volcanic rocks.
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| A whale skeleton was laid out on the beach |
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| Our group, leaving only footprints behind |
Lava lizards were darting about near the start of the vegetation.
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| Females have a distinctive red coloring around their neck |
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| Males, while larger, are less colorful |
One of the more entertaining animals was the Española mockingbird. They had absolutely no fear of people and walked right next to several of us.
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| Picking through sea lion poo for something good to eat |
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| Score! |
Next, we snorkeled across the bay to a large volcanic outcropping and took in the sights.
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| Watch to the end of the video to see this guy in action at the bottom |
We returned to the ship for showers and lunch. We opted for al fresco dining at the Beagle Grill, enjoying the view alongside a lone mockingbird that hopped on the table looking for scraps.
Arlona got some packing done after lunch and then I started the packing process.
We got ready for our afternoon activity. We dropped anchor near Punta Suarez,
once again on Española Island. This island is quite low and therefore more arid than the other islands we visited recently.
As we approached, Nasca boobys were zooming past the room,
foreshadowing what we would see in short order.
There were two options. The first was billed as a long, difficult hike with boulders. The second was described as a short, difficult hike with boulders. Hmm... We chose the short versions and headed out on a Zodiac for more adventure.
The walk was more technical than anything, with lava rocks dotting the walkway. It meant treading carefully and thoughtfully to avoid falling.
The first thing we came across was American oystercatchers.
There were tons of marine iguanas, including the Christmas iguanas with bright red coloring.
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| Too clingy? |
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| Iguana pile-up |
Arlona admired but left behind some lovely shells.
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| The smallest of the Darwin finches - the warbler finch |
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| Large cactus finch endemic to this island |
Nasca boobys call this island home. I don’t know how many we saw, but it was, for lack of a more eloquent description, lots and lots.
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| That's a dark juvenile in the back - the adult up front is requesting no more photos |
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| This one was building a nest |
We also saw a nest with a fluffy baby.
A real treat was seeing nesting waved albatross. They completely ignored us even though some were sitting on eggs and were no more than perhaps ten feet from us. It was incredible.
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| Five different nests |
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| An abandoned egg |
The views were lovely.
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| That's the Xpedition in the background |
Finally, we got to see a Galapagos hawk - an endemic species and the apex predator in the Galapagos.
They had a bit of a farewell tonight, introducing the entire crew who made our week the best.
Then, it was out to the Beagle Grill for a BBQ dinner al fresco.
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| Beef, chicken, ribs, sausage, octopus, shrimp, lobster - wow |
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| We all ate way too much |
It was a nice final evening on Xpedition. We have a short excursion tomorrow morning and then have to vacate our rooms so the crew can turn them for the next cruise. Tomorrow will be a long day as we will fly to Quito and then on to Lima. We won’t arrive until around 10:30 PM tomorrow night and then have a late dinner. A busy finish to this part of the trip.
Even if we ever get to the Galápagos Islands we would never get the fantastic photos that you have shown. Thank you and looking forward to the rest of your trip!
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