Iguana Land (part 3)

The following day on the oldest and southernmost island Española offered us the experience of a lifetime! An even closer encounter with the sea lions and their babies… We swam and played with them in the water! We just had to twirl around and they followed, their big black eyes sometimes less than a meter away from us! It was magical!

And it was not over... Our next stop was a white sand beach that we had only seen in paradise movies... There was nobody there except the other seven people from our yacht, and of course the animals!

There were colonies of sea lions, some of them lazing on the beach while others were surfing the waves or simply relaxing in the warm water…

We walked by these incredible creatures and enjoyed the splendid scenery!

There were also marine iguanas, hidden among the lava rocks along the shoreline!

Due to its remote location, Española has a large number of endemic species. The marine iguanas on the island are red and are the most colourful of all marine iguanas, which is why they were nicknamed ‘Christmas iguanas’.

Before we left this tiny piece of paradise, we were not able to resist the temptation of going for a swim in the ocean - the temperature of the almost transparent turquoise water was perfect!

Española Island was also a great spot for a hike to a blowhole, which spurted water high into the air.

And the hike, like any hike on the Galapagos Islands, meant tons of animal encounters!

We spotted red-billed tropicbirds with their long tails, flying in the blue sky.

Nazca boobies were resting on the rocks after the long flight.

Their cousins with bright blue feet - the famous blue-footed boobies - were kind of dancing, or simply pampering themselves!

The Española marine iguanas were literally hanging in a vertical position on the rocks, and looked like they were preparing for the Castells festival in the south of Spain where people are climbing up each others’ backs and shoulders in an effort to make the tallest human pyramid!

In this case - the tallest iguana pyramid, a collective effort to warm each other - and I would say that they were pretty successful in their endeavours!

However, the reason to come so far away was that Española is the only place where the waved albatrosses nest and… dance!

Albatrosses are amongst the largest flying birds and have the longest wingspan of any extant birds. Another interesting feature is that they become life-long partners on the dance floor!

We were first-row spectators, treated to the fascinating courtship ritual of these magnificent birds. It was truly a spectacular sight! The ritual included rapid beak circling and bowing, beak clacking and an upraised beak to make a whoo hoo sound.

The way they clap their beaks may look like a fencing fight, but it is actually a love song! It appears that the divorce rate of albatrosses is the lowest of all birds!

There were so many islands to explore and so many magical animal encounters to experience, but, as always, not enough time! Whether you stay there for a couple of days or a whole week, you will be smitten by the magic! Iguana Land leaves nobody who loves animals indifferent...