Espanola is the oldest and southernmost island of the Galapagos chain. It is approximately four million years old and attracts many seabirds, sea lions and iguanas that build nests and raise their young here. In the afternoon of the second day Zodiacs took us ashore for a hike of about two miles around part of the island.

Good walking shoes are essential. These large lava "bombs" were all along our path and, although not slippery, they made it necessary to watch where we were going. That also helped so we would not step on lizards, sea iguanas and other creatures.

Galapagos mockingbirds swooped down and the little one below kept following me when I made some chirping bird sounds. It seemed confused about this big, ugly bird invading his territory. Then we spotted some masked boobies sitting on the lava near shore.

Further inland we found the albatross. They were nesting in an open area not far from the cliffs. They need the sheer drop off to get started when taking off in flight. These birds spend months at sea and only come here to mate and nest. Again they are not shy and could be found all along our trail.

We had decided to go snorkeling the following day. All the gear was provided and a Zodiac took us to Champion Island, a satellite spot off Floreana Island. There was a fair amount of current and the water was a bit cloudy; certainly not as clear as other spots where we have been. We saw some green turtles under water and I played with the sea lions near the shore. All I did was make circles with my arm and the playful creatures would tumble and dart all around me. One actually brushed up against my arm, but I was not allowed to touch him/her; so it was a bit of a one sided relationship.

Our dear friends Jo and Randy, with a neat underwater camera, were right there when a whale-shark appeared below them. Jo dove down to about thirty feet and took some fantastic shots while Randy got one of her chasing the large fish. Our group swam like crazy to have a look also and Sharon saw the image, but I missed it. All our naturalists were in awe. Some of them had only seen this fish ones or twice before.

while we were having fun in the water, some of our groups went ashore and witnessed a large turtle lay her eggs, cover them up with sand and slowly make her way back to the ocean. Another group was lucky to see several flamingoes in one of the lagoons. Thanks again friends for sharing these beautiful pictures.

There were some excursions that were a bit more stenuous. Sharon took the hike to the top of this hill on Bartolome Island. Later on Santiago Island Jay did the four mile hike to the crater of an old cinder cone that had been mined for salt. Here are some pictures without further captions.

All over the islands are various cacti and flowering bushes. Both are important to the birds, land iguanas and giant tortoises. Here is but a sample of some flowers and other birds we saw.

Various islands have different types of prickly-pear cacti. This is another example of selective adaptation. A low spreading, bright green variety (shown on the left) grows on North Seymour. where there are no tortoises who like to eat the fresh growths and flowers of the plants. Vegetation on the younger islands to the west is not lush and tortoises needed to feed from taller plants, so the tortoise grew longer necks. In turn the cacti grew taller with a trunk.

Along the shore we had to dart around the Spiny Bush, also known as Thorn Shrub, for good reason. This plant was home to a giant spider. We also saw numerous flowering plants such as Morning Glory, Acacia and Galapagos Cotton.

I mentioned the Galapagos Mockingbird. Here are some more pictures of an American Oystercatcher, a Brown Pelican, Barn Owl and the Galapagos Hawk. And finally a Yellow Warbler feeding her youngsters in the nest.