Genovesa Island
An early morning breakfast prepared us for a wet landing in the island of Genovesa. Here we found ourselves surrounded by all sorts of seabirds: great frigate birds, swallow-tailed gulls, and the spectacular rubicund red-footed boobies, up in the mangrove forest. We were greeted as well by many young yellow crowned night herons. As we returned to the beach a few lava gulls screamed in happiness in front of us and started copulating like there was no tomorrow.
Our next activity was exploring the undersea by snorkeling. The colors of the fish were fantastic and different kinds of reef fish surrounded us.
After an incredible buffet lunch, it was time to visit Prince Philip’s steps. As we reached the summit of the cliff, this bird paradise was exposed in front our eyes. On the ground, there were Nazca boobies with their babies. On the trees, there were red-footed boobies building their nests and tending their chicks. As we reached the other side of the peninsula, it was time to look for one of the most challenging birds to be found: the short-eared owl. During the hike we saw a few individuals that were patiently waiting on the rocks for storm petrels, while great frigate birds were attacking and stealing food from the babies and parents of the Nazca boobies. At the end of the visit, we enjoyed a marvelous sunset with distant Marchena Island in the background. This was the end of our visit in paradise.
