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Introduction
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For more information about upcoming workshops, visit the Workshops homepage or send an email to grijalva@ohiou.edu |
Isla Española By Laini Burstein
So why do I think Espanola (aka Hood) is the brightest star in this marvelous constellation? The myriad birds perhaps, or the sheer cliffs graced by a blow hole below, or the colorful marine iguanas and nursing sea lion pups or the massive stands of salt bush and dune-clinging gray mat (Tequilia) or ..........
Anyone who subscribes to the belief that life is not about how many breaths you take but how many moments take your breath away should not miss a chance to experience the wonderment of the Galapagos Islands. |
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The expression “saving the best for last” may indeed
be trite but when invoked in reference to Isla Espanola, our last stop on
this week-long tour of the Galapagos Islands, those simple words carry a
weight beyond their tired reputation. The entire archipelago is so
spectacular that finding fresh ways to express the wonder of this place
would require a thesaurus and the vocabulary of a literature professor.
Watching the wave albatross launch itself from the
island’s major promontory at Punta Suarez, seeing blue-footed boobies
tending their hatchlings ever mindful of the sassy mocking birds and the
Galapagos hawks, hearing the clack of beak against beak as albatross mates
get reacquainted in time for breeding season, laughing at the antics of the
sea lion pups as they nudge their snoozing Moms for a quick snack, strolling
along a pristine white beach at Gardner Bay amazed at the clarity if the
blue-green ocean…….
Gazing across the rock strewn expanse of the island
and realizing there is hardly a place you can set foot without encountering
a bird nest amid the stones, gasping at how close you just came to stumbling
over an iguana you didn’t see until you were mere inches away…….