Hood (or Española) is the seventh biggest
island of the Galapagos, with a land area of 23 square miles
about two-thirds the size of Manhattan. It is relatively low-lying
only 675 feet above sea level at maximum elevation. It is
named after an English admiral, Viscount Samuel Hood. The Ecuadorians
call it Española, after the country of Spain (=España).
Many visitors to the Galapagos rate Hood as their favorite island.
Usually, the visit will begin in the morning with a visit to Gardner
Beach, and in the afternoon the boat sails west around the island
for a walk around Punta Suarez. The Hood mockingbird and waved
albatross are found here and nowhere else in the world. Recently,
the Galapagos National Park Service has successfully reintroduced
the islands' unique race of giant tortoises. They had been reduced
to a mere thirteen individuals, all of which were removed and
then bred in captivity (at Charles Darwin Research Station on
Santa Cruz) until sufficient hatchlings had grown big enough to
survive on their own in the wild. The reintroduced tortoises have
begun to breed, restablishing the population a Galapagos
success story.
Hood Visitor
Sites
Gardner Beach
Punta Suarez
