Genovesa Island
Genovesa, or Tower Island, is home to over one million seabirds. Our highlights here were diverse: from Nazca, red & blue-footed boobies and gulls to owls, fur seals, and hammerheads sharks.
Our adventure began with a walk that starts at the famous Prince Philip’s Steps, where we were able to find the elusive short-eared owl. Lucky for us we were able to spot a few and felt rewarded to have a unique view of this camouflaged raptor in flight with a prey and of its exceptional hunting techniques.
Back aboard we prepared for our last snorkeling outing in search of hammerhead sharks; to see them close brought excitement and admiration. After this great adventure, we came back to our ship, anchored inside Genovesa’s caldera, to be briefed about our departure and to enjoy a delicious lunch, the pride of our culinary staff.
Many things took place after lunch; some of us donated pictures for our final slideshow for tonight’s presentation, assisted by our resident photography instructor; our young explorers brought all their collected “tasks,” earning points to become “Junior Naturalists”; there was an exciting kayak competition from and to the ship at Darwin Bay; and some of us just rested to save energy for our next outing.
We were then ready to start our next adventure, which was a wet landing on a white coralline beach inside Darwin Bay, named by a celebrity visitor, William Beebe, in honor of a great naturalist who re-directed human thought, Charles Darwin. We walked, surrounded by birds of all kinds, their chicks, behavior and colors. We were also happy to find a few marine iguanas, which are smaller and darker here, as this northern hemisphere island has much different ecology and, like a Petri-dish, different results.
Taking the walk was like being transported back in time. There were birds flying all over just like in prehistoric times and lava formations resembling the first foundations of Earth. Then the sun set for an excellent farewell to the afternoon.
We have all bonded families, like a mega-family, united by this invisible mysticism called the Galápagos. At the end of our journey we hope to stay in touch and that the experience our guests had this week will stay with them for a lifetime.
