Española Island

Española Island is one of the oldest and most isolated of all the islands. Due to this, the endemic wildlife found on Española is one of the most abundant; it is home to the Española mockingbird, the Española lava lizard, and the waved albatross. For this reason, Española’s two visitor sites are among the post popular and attractive in the archipelago. One of the visitor sites, Punta Suarez, is a dry landing site where visitors are welcomed by sea lions, some lounging on the trail and others swimming in the shallow water nearby. Española is home to the only marine iguanas that stay birhgtly colored all year long, shining red and green in the coastal areas near the landing site. The trail on this site leads to a cliff overlooking the ocean where visitors can see a blowhole created from the crash of the waves onto the lava fissure. This blow hole can spray water about 30 m into the air. During the trail visitors can also observe a variety of endemic species such as the Galapagos Haws, Darwin finches, and Galapgos doves. Furthermore, a wonder and highlight of this site is the Waved Albatross breeding colony. With a population of about 30,000, visitors can observe Waved Albatrosses launch themselves off of cliffs to take flight or preform their elaborate mating dances.