Punta Suarez on Espanola Island is one of the highlights of the fortnight in the Galapagos to date. Home to marina iguanas with brilliant turquoise, red and green breeding colours, the waved albatross, the Galapagos hawk, a sea lion creche and nesting nazca boobies, it is a photogenic spot.
This juvenile waved albatross still has its downy feathers, hence the Louis XIV look. When fully grown, it will look like this adult. Punta Suarez provides these albatrosses with the strong winds for takeoff and landing, and the space for nesting sites.
The afternoon is spent at the very pretty Gardner Bay, home to some fearless and endemic Espanola Mockingbirds, and more Galapagos sea lions. The sun is out, so the snorkeling along the point is by definition terrible. Poor underwater visibility and lack of marine life make it another short session. Even the sunbaking sea lions nearby couldn’t be persuaded to come into the water for a swim. A couple of month-old sea lion pups provide the entertainment by galloping up to everyone arriving on the beach. Covered in white sand, they are completely fearless.
This afternoon we make a shortish navigation to San Cristobal Island, the capital of the islands, although with a significantly smaller population of around 8000 people. Kind of the Canberra of the Galapagos.
