8th May: Espanola Island/Punta Suarez

Me and the Blue-footed booby are clearly closely related.

 Espanola has a reputation as one of the top spots for bird-watching, which has led to the phasing-out of day trips, so you need to be on a cruise to come here.  It was another early morning start for a 3 hour walk.  As the panga deposited us we were greeted by a carpet of marine iguanas - the only truly marine lizard in the world.  They spend the cool nights under the vegetation in clusters and emerge into the sunshine to warm-up and 'recharge their batteries'.   Socrates, our guide, informed us that the collective noun for lizards is a mess and indeed there was a mess all over our path and he had to gently shoo some away to remove the danger of stepping on them. A little further along the path we found a mockingbird making breakfast of a baby sea turtle.  Once again we wanted to intervene - surely one saved turtle wouldn't change the world - but Socrates said it was strictly against the rules.  He was rather scathing about the mockingbird, saying it was the scavenger of the islands much like the hyena in Africa and blowing my romantic idea of it being a sweet songbird.  As we reached the cliff edge we saw Nazca and blue-footed boobies nesting, so tame that you had to be careful you didn't step on them.  It was an arresting experience: a cloudless blue sky and ultramarine sea with waves crashing against the black cliffs, spurting water through the blowholes.  We sat to drink in the spectacle, while a Galapagos Hawk flew overhead.  There was even more to come - a field nicknamed 'albatross airport', the biggest breeding site of waved albatross in the world.  We witnessed their courtship, dancing, clacking and mating.  It was pretty hot by this stage, and I was feeling smug about my Rohan technical gear.  I had a wide-brimmed hat and a long-sleeved 'moisture wicking' blouse to protect me from the sun.  My water bottle was attached to my belt hook and my technical trousers had so many pockets it wasn't even necessary to lug a backpack around.     

A mess of iguanas warming up in the sun

Socrates clears a path

Marine iguanas on Espanola are the most colourful subspecies,
 nicknamed 'Christmas iguanas' for their red and green splotches 

Mockingbird pecks a baby sea turtle

 

I found the terrain challenging as it was strewn with lava rocks and boulders
and I was grateful for the walking stick and Richard's helping hand. 

 

Brown Pelican

Nazcar booby

Blue-footed booby

Waved Albatross

Galapagos Hawk

Mating Albatross

The most perfect perching spot

Suitably accessorised with zoom lens, country walking stick and binoculars