Espanola--June 10

I woke up excited and ready to see what the day would bring. We had an idea of the schedule, but it's hard to really "know."

Our first stop was Gardner Bay on the Island of Espanola. Again, we saw lots of sweet sea lions. They were all over the beach. While I'm still taking pictures of this cute sea lion and that cute sea lion . . .and oh, look, another cute sea lion . . .it is surprising how quickly you get used to things and take them for granted. I could honestly watch them all day as they are really very funny, but there is so much to see and I don't want to miss it. 

They took our spot

On this beach, we saw another Galapagos Hawk and a very interesting bird called a vampire hummingbird. It gets nutrition from blood . . .often from carrion, but if times are hard, it will use it's sharp beak and poke another bird in the tail causing it to bleed. Very strange, indeed.

Then just a quick trip across the water to snorkel at Gardner Island. Yesterday, I said it couldn't get better, right? Today, it must be true. The fish were truly spectacular. We swam into a cave, which was very cool.

And, this time, even more sea lions came out to play. Probably a dozen of them. Apparently, dogs evolved from sea lions and I believe it. They are just like puppies playing, spinning, blowing bubbles. They are very curious little guys. And, like dogs, they all seem very attracted to The Musician. They couldn't get enough of him.

After our swim and lunch, we had our longest (2 hour) hike of the trip. We saw a few Blue Footed Boobies, but also found another Booby species . . .the Masked (Nazca) Booby. I think the Blue Footeds are really sweet, but the Masked are really beautiful.

I had been wondering when I would see iguana pictures like the ones in books. You know, where they are all piled up on each other. They really are here. And, a different species. I think these, with the red backs, are truly beautiful. Well, so incredibly frightening, that they are beautiful.

This was a rocky terrain, high on a cliff that dropped into the ocean. Pretty impressive blow-hole at the bottom. The sea lions we found here had a long hike to "get away" from it all for some peace and quiet.

We saw a rare male fur seal who must have been out of his element. No others around. Really a sea lion, though . . .check out his ears.

Identified a few more small animals, but I'm saving the best, and most beautiful for last . . .

This one eats carrion

Finch

Lava Lizard

Darwin's Dove

Beautiful pair of hawks

 The Waved Albatross!!!

Look at the size of the egg . . .

The chest feathers form a wave-like pattern. They have the most beautiful faces and eyes.  I could look at them all day long. And, like a good female, the females have even more beautiful features . . .like fluffy eyebrows. This was nesting season and there were so many. This is their only island. Because they were nesting, it was hard to get one flying, but their wing-span is over 6-feet. Just absolutely incredible.

Today, I decided it was time to brave the marine shower. I figured this is as good a time as any. Before our trip, we diligently shopped for all organic and biodegradeable soap and sunscreen. We did find some very cool products, including a soap that can be used for everything . . .washing hair, washing body, washing clothes, washing dishes, washing floors, washing fruit, even toothpaste (if you don't mind the taste of soap). All plant-based (I can recognize every ingredient without alterations) and biodegradeable. I used it to wash clothes, hair, body, and shaving cream . . .but not toothpaste. It is important to conserve fresh water on the boat, and I love a long hot luxurious shower. It wasn't to be. Hold the hand-held shower head and get wet. Shiver while soaping up, and hold the hand-held to rinse off.  I'm not sure the layers of zinc oxide in the sunscreen came off until a few days after I came home. But, I didn't get sunburned.  There are no pictures of the shower, sorry guys.