Our journey continued as we arrived at Española, one of the oldest and most diverse islands in the archipelago. Gardner Bay is a coralline sand beach with turquoise waters. It is a favorite haul out for Galapagos sea lions, and young sea lions lazed on the beach as Española mockingbirds flitted about along the coast. The young sea lions swam and played among us as we snorkeled. The afternoon brought us to a rocky path filled with wildlife. Marine iguanas nested along the path, and numerous Nazca booby chicks practiced flying. They jumped from the rocks while their parents looked on. We spotted waved albatrosses along the southern cliffs. The first individuals of the season landed on the island to search for their lifelong mates. The sun dipped below the horizon, and the soundtrack of Española sent us on our way as we headed back to National Geographic Endeavour II.
10/3/2024
Read
National Geographic Endeavour II
Bartholomew Island and Sombrero Chino
We split into groups for different excursions this morning. Four groups went up the staircase to the top for the iconic view over the isthmus of Bartholomew Island and Pinnacle Rock. We walked past exposed volcanic formations of all sorts: spatter cones, tuff cones, and lava tubes. Two other groups chose to explore along the coast by Zodiac in hopes of Galapagos penguin sightings. All of us were successful in what we hoped for and even the walkers saw penguins near the dock where we disembarked! Both snorkeling off the beach and deep-water outings along the backside of the island were tremendously productive because we saw it all: penguins and sharks being the top species, and diving blue-footed boobies too! The afternoon had National Geographic Endeavour II anchored not too far south, off the coast of Santiago Island near Sombrero Chino. A dramatically barren, small volcanic cone where another snorkeling outing was offered and late-afternoon Zodiac rides to search yet one more time for penguins. We can never get enough of them!