Punta Suárez

Almost one hour by boat from Gardener Bay on the western tip of Española waits one of the most outstanding visitor sites in the Galápagos. After a wet landing, you’ll head out on a trail that loops toward cliffs on the south side of the point. Along the way you can’t miss “Boobieville,” a major blue-footed boobie colony. In fact, you’ll have to be careful not to step on any of the nests, parents, or young that sit in the middle of the trail like feathery toll attendants. Guano-stained rocks as far as the eye can see are peppered with boobies in all stages of life, from fuzzy newborns to mangy-looking teenage equivalents (adolescence is kind to no beast). Everyone who’s not a parent is demanding to be fed.

  Farther along the trail nest almost all of the waved albatrosses in the world. Between April and November, about 10,000 breeding pairs nest on Punta Suárez, one of only two breeding sites in the world. (The other is the Isla de la Plata off mainland Ecuador.) You might even be lucky enough to see the elaborate courtship dance, or at least hear the bill-clattering from behind a bush. You’ll almost surely witness take-offs and landings, worth a wince or two at best. The soaring giants aren’t all that graceful within range of the earth, making landings more an exercise in quick braking and luck. The nearby cliff face makes take-offs a little easier—the birds simply inch to the edge and leap.

  Many other seabirds soar over the impressive cliffs at the end of the loop, including the Galápagos hawk, Galápagos dove, and swallow-tailed gulls. Down below, a blowhole sends spray 50 meters into the air with every crashing wave. Española’s male marine iguanas, spread on the rocks at the base of the cliffs, boast brighter mating colors than anywhere else in the Galápagos. Neon turquoise spreads over their back and front legs, thought to be the result of eating algae particular to this island. Scientists also hypothesize that they may be a separate species.