Isla Española

Weather: Sunny, and almost 90 I'd say

My day started at 6am, got ready and headed to the dive shop to meet my class for 7am. We grabbed snorkel gear and headed to the dock. We had to pass an inspection before going to the dock where we caught our boat for the day. The inspection people check to make sure we have no fruit or anything that could impact Española's current state. We crammed onto a tiny water taxi that brought us to the boat we'd spend the whole day on. There was just enough seating for all of us. It was literally my class and a couple. I felt bad for the couple but I guess we paid the same amount as them so aw well.

It takes about 2 hours by boat to go from San Cristobal to Espanola. On the way there we saw so many sea creatures. We saw a shark, sea lions, a turtle, lots of dolphins jumping really high out of the water. They're a smaller dolphin so it doesn't take much for them to get really high. My professor also saw a whale spouting water through its blow hole. I completely missed this one, but I saw everything else and the shark was pretty cool. It's fin was out of the water for a good amount of time, we couldn't identify what type though.

Eventually we arrived at Española and it varies from San Cristobal in that it is very flat. San Cristobal has highlands but Española is just flat, not much variation in elevation whatsoever. Years ago, goats used to roam the island and they ended up destroying everything on the island. The tortoises had no food left and the goats virtually ate everything on the island. The national park had to intervene and they ended up killing off all the goats remaining on the island. Española ended up being closed to the public for years and just re-opened in the past couple of years. Today, the island is thriving and the vegetation is slowly coming back. The island has no human inhabitants but it is open to tourists that want to snorkel or hike around Española. Apparently it is one of the more expensive islands to visit so I am glad I was fortunate enough to tour it as a class trip.

We got to our snorkel spot and I threw on my wetsuit. I wasn't going to wear one since the water is not that cold, but in the end I was glad I did because it protected me from the sun. This marked my first time snorkeling and when first jumped in I hadn't fastened my mask yet cause I wanted to get my bearings before just breathing through my mouth. I ended up having to switch snorkels because the one I had kept falling out of my mouth and wouldn't stay on straight. Luckily, we had an awesome guide that gave me a spare she had and the rest of the time there were no issues whatsoever. I was mind blown by the whole experience, and couldn't believe it took me 21 years to snorkel. I know there wouldn't be much to see underwater in Hull but still...I should've at least tried it at home. At Española I was swimming side by side with sea lions. They would come straight at the camera and then turn away at the last second. We saw lots of different fish and some corals. The sad part is, most of the corals were one sandy color. The reason they weren't abundant colors was because of bleaching which is a result of ocean acidification. Later in the day, before we boarded the boat to return to San Cristobal, we picked up some small plastics off of the beach. People think of the Galapagos as a pristine untouched place but just like every place in the world it is struggling with climate change and the implications that come with a warming climate.

We snorkeled for a bit over an hour and then boarded the boat again for some early lunch. For a boat lunch I was highly impressed. There was a wide spread of food for all of us and I ended up having some bread, rice with a variety of veggies, avocado, and an apple. They offered a couple different drinks so I got some orange juice and it was a great fulfilling lunch.

Our captain took us closer to the island after lunch and we took a dingy into shore. Our guide took us on a two hour hike around Española and it was incredible. It was really hot since there is absolutely no shade anywhere on the island because all of the trees are shorter than humans. I reapplied sunscreen twice just on the hike alone and I still got burned a bit on my back. Now that I think of it, I think I forgot to do my back a second time...whoops. We saw tons of sea lions, and marine iguanas right when we stepped off the dingy.

The beach we docked near is a nursery ground for baby sea lions. They were all playing together in the water and it was absolutely adorable. We kept walking and came across a nesting ground for blue and red footed boobies (we didn't see any though). We did see another large white bird pictured below that was nesting everywhere. Just about every bird we saw had a baby with it. They were adorable. One of the mother birds we saw had two eggs at her feet, apparently once the babies are old enough whichever one hatched first kills the other since the mother is only capable of feeding one baby at a time.

We kept walking and the trail led us to a nice walk right along the shoreline. The cliffs that were in the distance kind of reminded me of those in Ireland, it also reminded me of a hike we took in Hawaii. It was very calming and there's really no words that can describe how beautiful it was. I have pictures but just like anything, it's better to see in person.

We started our hike back shortly after and along the way we found abandoned albatross eggs. Apparently they are always flying around, but they mate for life. If the couple splits up and one flies to Colombia they will always find their way back to each other. It's truly incredible. Unfortunately, we didn't see an albatross but we got to hold one of their eggs which was pretty awesome. It was the size of our hands so I can only imagine the size of the bird.

The trail came back around to the beach that's a sea lion nursery and we saw some different birds with their baby. There was such an abundance of biodiversity it was truly incredible. We were all really hot at this point, and I had drank almost all of my water. We took the dingy back to the boat, and we had a little bit of extra time before we had to head back so the captain and our guide let us all jump back into the water for a bit. Ahhh the water was crystal clear, definitely the clearest water I have ever swam in and pretty much like bath water. San Cristobal has clear water as well but not like Española. The boat provided fresh fruit for us for the ride back (watermelon, bananas, and apples). I took full advantage of that because I miss all the fresh fruits Ines gave me. I definitely took that for granted living with her, but when I am back in the states I'm going to look for some of the fruits she gave me.

It took 2 hours to get back to San Cristobal and I'm pretty sure everyone on the boat fell asleep at one point during the trip. It was a really tiring day but so much fun. I am truly loving it here more and more each day. San Cristobal is becoming like a home for me which is nice. I see all the tourists around and the probably view me as a tourist as well but they don't know this island is my home for 3 solid months. I've found my friends and I already referring to them as tourists (we have forgotten the fact we've been here less than a

week). Some of the tourists are truly stupid, and it's how we know they are in fact tourists. We saw one guy trying to touch a baby sea lion while his girlfriend took a photo. That is literally the one thing you are not supposed to do. It's frustrating for sure because we are already invading these animal's spaces the least us humans could do is abide by rules set in place by the park to protect them. Rant over..

A little fun fact I learned today over dinner is that Tania is graduating with a Bachelors degree in business administration from USFQ after 15 years! Anahi has a different dad than Mateo and Helena, and Tania had her when she was really young. Tania was never able to really take a lot of credits at once and with a baby girl and work it was really hard. USFQ offers business management and natural resource management as majors Galapaganeos can take here in San Cristobal. Tania flies out to the main Quito campus with Mateo next Friday and she'll be gone for a week. It will be interesting to see how Paco manages taking care of Anahi, me, and Helena. Anyways, seeing Española made me more excited to see more of San Cristobal. It also made me look forward to my island hopping trip I have in March with IES and just island hopping on my own too.