Collapsed calderas surrounded by the greening of the Palo Santo and flocks of birds made for a remarkable start to our final day in the Galapagos. Enthusiastic explorers joined us at the sky deck to witness the careful maneuvers of our captain Fausto Hinojosa, to get us to an anchored area in this exclusive place.
The morning outing took place on two visitor sites, Darwin’s Bay and Prince Phillip’s Steps, and we have split up into groups to be able to land in this astonishing and fragile place. As soon as we landed at Darwin’s Bay, our attention was captured by several sea lions that were basking on the white sandy beach. Swallowtail gulls and lava gulls were also spotted throughout the scenic landscape of Genovesa Island. We even found several conspicuous red-footed boobies, the only tree nesting species of booby, merged in the mangrove forest. The advantage of the high tide made a perfect scenario for fish and rays to get far inland and along the beach, sea lions and shorebirds as well as migratory birds we found in the intertidal zone of the bay.
Due to its isolation, Genovesa is considered the jewelry of the Galapagos Islands. This unique place has a very fragile ecosystem, and it is very important to practice sustainable tourism. Thus, to be able to enjoy Mother Nature, the other half of our guests outing took place on Prince Phillip’s steps. From the top of the island, we observed the immensity of the caldera of this ancient shield volcano. As we walked through a Palo Santo forest, Nazca boobies, mockingbirds, Galápagos doves and Darwin’s finches thrilled us with their distinctive sounds. The trail took us to pahoehoe lava plains oxidized by the erosion. Since the top predator of the Galapagos island, the Galapagos hawk, is absent from this island, short ear owls have become diurnal, and now prey on storm petrels. Petrels were extremely abundant on this ancient lava field, and we were flabbergasted by their expert flying techniques as they tried to avoid the owls. However, the perfect camouflage of the short-eared owl, whose plumage blends perfectly with the brown rocks, surprised many petrels that landed on the field.
Afterwards, some guests decided to go to explore the underwater realm, while others enjoyed a close encounter with the wonders of Genovesa from kayaks, and still others spent the rest of the morning at the beach. Our day ended with an incredible sunset that illuminated the rim of Genovesa Island as we sailed away from the bay.
