Espanola is our favourite island in the Galapagos for its wildlife and setting. The itinerary for this section was:

• Day 5: Espanola - Punta Suarez and Gardner Bay
• Day 6: Isla Lobos and San Cristobal - Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and La Galapaguera
• Day 7: Santa Fe and South Plaza
• Day 8: Santa Cruz - Bachas Beach

Espanola was spectacular --- at Punta Suarez, we saw marine iguanas with shades of blue, red, and green, as well as lots of blue-footed boobies doing their mating dance. We also saw a Galapagos hawk, as well as a few flying waved albatrosses and a juvenile near the sea cliffs. We had lunch anchored in Gardner Bay, and then snorkeled off Gardner Island where a family of sea lions spent the better part of an hour swimming with us. Next was a short dinghy ride to a pretty beach littered with sea lions, and we snorkeled out to a small islet just off the beach where we saw lots of marbled rays on the swim out, and a white-tip reef shark as well as large schools of colorful fishes near the islet. Isla Lobos and San Cristobal was somewhat unmemorable after all that we'd already seen, although we saw a rare Galapagos snake on Isla Lobos.

The next day, we landed on Santa Fe hoping to see land iguanas but it was a cold morning (iguanas are cold blooded and need to warm up in the sun) and we only saw a solitary land iguana in the distance among some trees. We also snorkeled off Santa Fe where the visibility was quite good and we saw lots of flounders hiding in the sand. Snorkeling back to the boat, I noticed that there was a large school of pufferfish hiding in the shade under the boat staring back at me as I stared at them.

On South Plaza, we got our fill of watching land iguanas, including an iguana that leapt up on its hind legs to feed on low hanging cacti. We also saw lots of red-billed tropicbirds on South Plaza. We also saw dominant male sea lions guarding their territory where they even chased some unsuspecting tourists that landed onshore without paying attention. While sailing back to Santa Cruz that day, a flock of frigatebirds followed the boat at sunset and it was really spectacular to see them soaring overhead at sunset with the moon in the background. We spent our final day on Bachas Beach where we watched blue-footed boobies doing synchronized dives into the water.