Española-Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

Española is the southernmost of the Galapagos Islands and is also one of the oldest. Geologists estimate it is about four million years old. Española is a classic shield volcano, created from a single caldera in the center of the island. Over thousands of years, the island slowly moved away from the Galapagos hot spot where it was formed and the volcano became extinct. Erosion began to occur, eventually resulting in one of the flattest islands in the archipelago with one of the lowest elevations. Because Española is one of the most isolated islands in Galapagos, it has a large number of endemic species — the Española mockingbird, the Española lava lizard, and the waved albatross, to name a few. The mockingbird is quite charming, having a very long bill that it uses to bust into things to eat, very little need to fly so it mostly hops from place to place, and a very charming nature—one came and ate flies, which were ubiquitous, right off our legs in a gentle and adorable manner.

Waved Albatrosses are the largest birds in Galapagos. They are remarkable birds, standing nearly 1 m high with wingspans of 2 to 2.5 m and living up to 40 years. Every year the entire world’s population of adult Waved Albatrosses returns to Española during the nesting season, from April to December. The nesting site is the only one in the world, and it was closed to visiting due to bird flu being reported on several islands.