April 24, 2023
Our final full day in the Galápagos took us to Española Island.
The morning started with beautiful blue water and a sea lion welcome committee spread across the rocks and shoreline. One massive male sea lion made it very clear he was in charge while sea lion babies wandered around nearby.
The wildlife was immediate. Christmas iguanas covered the rocks, lava lizards darted across the trail, mockingbirds moved around the cliffs, and Galápagos hawks circled overhead. We also saw Nazca boobies everywhere, which quickly became known within the group as the “NASCAR boobies.”
We hiked through the Punta Suarez area seeing blue footed boobies performing their mating dances, nests with eggs and chicks, marine iguanas swimming through tide pools, and the Punta Suarez blowhole sending water high into the air along the cliffs.
Once we reached Punta Suarez, we stopped to take in the cliff-side views and heard the story of “Sexy Diego,” the giant tortoise originally from Española who was sent to the San Diego Zoo as part of the breeding program. According to Fernanda, Diego eventually became the tortoise “sex-ed teacher” before being returned to Española where he continued helping rebuild the tortoise population.
On the hike back, we stopped to see the albatross. At one point, a guide from another boat allowed his guests to photograph the birds as long as they wanted, but when our group approached, he abruptly told us we could not because we were “upsetting” the bird, even though it didn’t even ruffle a single feather.
Back on the boat, the crew gave us a ceviche lesson before Fernanda took us up to the bridge for a tour with the captain.
That afternoon we moved to Gardner Beach, which felt completely different from the morning hike. Hundreds of sea lions covered the beach sleeping in the sand while pups played in the tide pools and carried sticks around like puppies. Some were nursing while others seemed determined to interact with anyone willing to pay attention to them.
While we were quietly sitting and watching the baby sea lions, the same guide from earlier appeared again and snapped at Kathryn.
“Where do you think you are? This is Galápagos National Park.”
He then accused her of “ruining the Galápagos.”
Later, when we told Fernanda what had happened, she identified him as David from the Bonita. From that point on, “Kathryn ruined the Galápagos” became a running joke for the rest of the trip and well beyond it.
One sea lion pup stopped and appeared to wave goodbye as we walked away from the tide pool area. It ended up being one of my favorite moments of the entire trip.
We finished the afternoon paddle-boarding and kayaking before heading back to the boat for our final evening onboard.
