Genovesa Island
Today we started our day anchored in the caldera of Genovesa Island know as Darwin’s Bay, named after the most prominent visitor of this archipelago. After breakfast on our way to the disembarkation area on the beach of Darwin’s Bay we found the sky filled with birds; that’s where the island got the name of the seabirds’ island. After landing on a beach covered with small pieces of broken coral we started our short hike. The place was absolutely beautiful loaded with different species of seabirds such as frigate birds, swallow tailed gull, Nazca and Red-footed boobies and many night crowned herons — it was an indescribable experience.
Later on we headed back to the National Geographic Islander to get ready for our next morning activity, which was snorkeling in the inner rim of the caldera. In the water all of our guests were impressed by the diversity of fish that we found there. We spotted parrots fishes, Moorish idols, damselfish, mobula rays and even hammerhead sharks — what an amazing way to say goodbye to the Galápagos marine wildlife.
In the afternoon we visited the Prince Phillip steps visitors site. There we found a dramatic landscape created by old lava flows covered with many species of seabirds. During our hike we learned how ecological niches are occupied by organisms that we don’t have in this archipelago. A good example are the short eared owls that took the position of the diurnal predator in Genovesa looking after the abundant storm petrels that nest on this Island; we spotted several of them.
It’s incredible how the time flies when you are surrounded by nature, good company and having a lot of fun. It was another great week in paradise.
