Day 22 - Galapagos - Espanola Island

The boat started sailing towards Espanola Island at midnight.  This took about 5 hours and it was another night of being thrown about – getting used to it now.  


We had breakfast at 7 followed by a walk along the beach at Gardner Bay, Espanola.  We could see (and hear) a colony of sea lions further along the beach.  We first saw some Mocking Birds and a Hermit Crab.  Then we came across a turtle nest.  It was a big hollow in the sand but was probably made about 3 nights ago as all tracks to it had been covered.  There were some more recent nests further down.  Turtles lay about 100 eggs but only 1 or 2 of these survive to adulthood.  Nearby was a colourful Lava Lizard which is only seen on Espanola Island.

Turtle Nest

Galapagos Dove

Mocking Bird (I think)

Lava Lizard unique to Espanola Island

Mocking Bird

Hermit Crab

Sea Lions

Sea Lion Pup

There were some migrant birds from Central America called Ruddy Turnstones.  They were not tame at all and flew away when we approached, unlike the resident species.  We saw some varieties of plants growing on the shore.  1 of these – called Grey Moss Plant is endemic to the islands whereas the others can be found elsewhere in the world.  The Grey Moss plant didn’t look like a plant at all until viewed close up then it was possible to see the tiny leaves.

Vegetation on the beach on Espanola

Grey Moss plant

Further down the beach, after passing the Sea Lion colony,  there were some Marine Iguanas but these had a lot of red colour on their bodies and green feet.  Apparently these colours are more prolific in the mating season (November) and are fading now.  The reason for this colour is because there are more minerals in the algae that they feed on due to the currents bringing them a better quality of food than the black marine iguanas that we have seen on other islands.  There were also a lot of Sally Lightfoot Crabs on the rocks.  

Espanola Marine Iguana

Espanola Marine Iguana

Sally Lightfoot Crabs

Paul, Marine Iguana and Sally Lightfoot Crabs

Paul with the Sea Lions

Paul with the Sea Lions

Jean with Marine Iguanas

Marine Iguana with Sally Lightfoot Crabs

The Beach at Gardner Bay, Espanola

There was a large tree trunk on the beach which had sailed across from the mainland and was gradually rotting on the beach.  Our guide explained that if any creature came across with the log and survived the journey and was able to adapt to living on the island, then eventually it would become another new indigenous species.

Tree trunk that has washed ashore from the Ecuador mainland. 

We then had some free time to snorkel from the beach or before going back for a snooze on deck and then lunch.  During this time the boat moved on around Espanola to Suarez Point where we will have our afternoon walk.  We had about 90 minutes free time after lunch and then the Chef organised a Pizza making demonstration in the Kitchen.  This is the snack we will have when we get back from our afternoon walk.


At 3.00 we got into the Pangas for a short trip to Suarez Point where we had a dry landing at a jetty.  This is on the opposite side of the island to Gardner Bay where we were this morning.  The sea was much wilder here and there were huge waves crashing against the rocks on the other side of the point from where we landed.  There were the usual colony of sea lions and plenty of marine iguanas waiting for us and a pair of Galapagos Oyster Catchers.  We did at last see a Blue Footed Boobie on a distant rock but it didn’t want to pose for photos.  As this bird is the emblem of the islands, we expected to have seen more of them before now.  There was also a Yellow Crested Night Heron sitting on a marine iguana.  We saw some Blue Footed Boobies nesting on the cliffs but they were some distance from the path.   The path was made up of lava stones and was really difficult and hard going.  It was impossible to look around whilst walking and we had to be really careful that we didn’t step on an iguana or lava lizard.  


98 108 112 114, 116, 138, 142, 150, 162, 167, 180, 181, 185, 187, 192

Blue Footed Boobie

Galapagos Oystercatchers

Yellow Crested Night Heron perched on a Marine Iguana

Galapagos Oyster Catchers with the Sea Lions

Spot the wildlife on the rocks

Espanola Mocking Bird

Landscape on Espanola Island

Blue Footed Boobie

Nesting Galapagos Hawk

Paul with natural Blow Hole in the background.  The waves crash onto the rocks and water is 

forced up a small opening in the rock causing the sea to spray high in the air. 

Ground Finch ( I think)

Lava Lizard

Suerez Point, Espanola

Lava Lizard

On the way back our guide walked really quickly and did not stop to allow us to regroup.  Quite a few of us got way behind him.  We later found out that it was because the tide was coming in and he was concerned about whether we could use the jetty.  We soon found out that the sea was above the jetty which was also covered in sea lions so we could not board the boats there.  They could not land on the beaches either because of a layer of lava stones and another layer of sea lions.  They had to get the pangas up to the rocks and we had to make some quite dangerous manouevers to get to a high rock and then we had to jump a few feet onto the panga.  It was quite scarey but we all made it.  Then we hit some really high waves which hit the panga side on.  This was the side that Paul and I were sitting on and we got soaked as the wave hit the side and all over us.  We had to get changed when we got back and then had our fruit juice and slice of pizza.  The heavy swell of the sea was making the boat sway to about 30 degrees each side even though it was at anchor and it was very difficult to move about.


After dinner the boat set sail for the 6 hour journey to Floreana which is where we will spend tomorrow, heading immediately into rough seas and another rocky night.