Genovesa Island
Located in the northernmost part of the archipelago, quite distant from any of the central islands, we find Genovesa: the most interesting scenery of the week… the very center of a caldera. The morning light gives us a very good opportunity to see the walls of the crater that collapsed a few million years ago. This particular place is extremely interesting; isolation has been the key here for the numerous seabirds that inhabit the place.
On one side of the island is Prince Philip’s Steps and its lava plateaus that have been conquered by Palo Santo trees; this is the nesting territory for some of the seabirds. We find ourselves surrounded again by lava flows that in this case are the nesting territory of the storm petrels. At first glimpse they look like clouds of mosquitos normally found in jungle areas; their predator, the short-eared owl, quietly waits for them on the open fields, looking for the perfect time to attack.
In the afternoon, we visit the white coralline beach and the red mangroves that are the nesting places for red-footed boobies. A few bachelors are displaying their half-inflated pouches to females that don’t seem to be particularly interested in them. Most of the minor frigatebird males today are into responsibly fathering their chicks.
What a special way to end this expedition around this enchanted archipelago; the images of today, we are sure, will remain in our heads for the rest of our lives.
