Genovesa
This morning we are in the northern hemisphere at Genovesa, a small island, of course, but one that hosts a large colony of seabirds, Red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigates, swallow-tail gulls, storm petrels, as well as land birds such as Galápagos doves, mockingbirds, and owls.
After landing on the small beach of white coral under the indifferent eye of gulls, we walked along a trail and saw many nesting birds. Some species we saw do not always mix, as some of the frigates try to steal the nests of other birds.
Beyond the rock barrier shoreline we found an intertidal zone that retains a pool of saltwater fed by wave action. Here we found striated herons and night herons on the lookout for food.
The visit of our afternoon was just as magical. We landed at a site known as Prince Philip’s Steps, named after Prince Phillip of England, who visited this place in 1960. After a dry landing you climb 25m, before reaching the arid zone of sandalwood (Palo santo) trees where we found nesting frigate birds in the trees and Nazca boobies on the ground. The trail crosses the interior to the southeastern coast over old lava fields burnished and oxidized by erosion. We can still see the flow of lava into the fracture very well — it look as if a glaze on chocolate cake. Storm petrels here were extremely abundant as well.
