Genovesa Island
Far away, in the northeast, lies Genovesa, or Tower Island. Just a few ships that circumnavigate the islands have the chance to visit this marvelous spot known as the “Bird’s Island.” Today we are here for one more adventure; it is the frosting on the cake of this week of activities and surprises.
The walk started at 8:00 a.m. We went to Prince Phillip’s steps, where frigates and red footed boobies put the colors in nature. This year I see so many of them; it means there were a lot of nutrients in the water and they have been very successful in reproducing. Also, Nazca boobies are nesting. We found so many of them laying eggs on the ground and some others having their babies. Our goal this morning was to see a short eared owl, which is very hard to find. Here they are diurnal because there is no competition with the Hawks. In other islands of Galapagos the owls hunt at night, so here is a great opportunity to see them during the day. Though we found only one, we were very lucky!
After having fun and having taken so many pictures of the spectacular wildlife we returned on board and got ready for snorkeling. It was the last opportunity of the week, and it was excellent! We found eagle rays, sting rays and golden rays along the cliff of this old collapsed caldera that is Darwin Bay. Moorish idols and pelican barracudas were seen in big schools. We enjoyed it a lot!
In the afternoon we went to Darwin beach. The walk was delightful, slow paced, to give to our travelers the experience of being in this parallel universe where the creatures that inhabit the islands do not care about us. They don’t pay attention to us. We are here, but we do not exist in this world. It is the world of the animals and plants that colonized Galapagos millions of years ago, we are just invisible visitors. Galapagos is a good example how the animals and humans can co-exist with no problem. They ignore us, but we love to see them, to learn from them.
Our magical journey came to the end, though many of our travelers wished to stay longer on the islands. They said, “we don’t want to go back to the real world!”
It has been the warmest day of our week in Galapagos, the sky was clear with no clouds. The sunset was almost perfect. At night we celebrated our amazing week in Galapagos, as well as our crossing of the equator line. We enjoyed the slideshow made with all the photographs that our guests shared with us, and the everyday scenes will be in our minds forever. It was another unforgettable trip onboard National Geographic Endeavour.
