Isla Española - Punta Súarez and Bahía Gardner
Española was one of my favorite islands that we visited. We first visited Punta Súarez, where you risked treading on an animal of some kind whenever you put your foot down. The island is populated by sea lions, boobies, uniquely green and pink marine iguanas (that only occur on this island), and an extensive marine community. We were fortunate to also see a Galapagos tortoise and the first arrivals of the population of waved albatross that nest on the island. After hiking around the island for a while, we traveled to Bahía Gardner, a beach on the island frequented by sea lions. The sea lions were lined up on the beach basking in the sun and rolling around in the waves. As you can see from the pictures, sea lions have a pretty lax lifestyle (can you say new life goals?). After taking many pictures of the adorable blobs, we spent a while snorkeling before heading back to the boat.