After an exciting and eventful week in this oceanic archipelago, we still had a busy full day at Genovesa Island; most of our guests could not believe how much there is to see in the Galapagos. Each island has introduced us to new and varied subjects regarding geology, marine life, plants, land birds, coastal birds and many other important factors for this archipelago.
Oceanic Islands are the perfect place to establish large colonies of sea birds, and Genovesa is probably one of the best places in Galapagos to see them.
It is almost impossible not to see them, even if you just decided to stay on board, because the whole island is covered with many species of sea birds, including red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigatebirds, tropic birds, sea gulls, petrels, shear waters, and some of them are even endemic for Galapagos. All these sea bird wonders, plus land birds and endemic plants make this island a perfect place to close our Galapagos adventure.
This island has a collapsed caldera, big enough to fit a few boats inside, and this morning around sun rise, the National Geographic Endeavour sailed inside its caldera, and it was a moment of peace and freedom to be surrounded by so much beauty.
Genovesa has only two visitor’s sites, and we decided to split the guests in two groups—one to visit Prince Philip’s steps and another group for Darwin bay. Both sites have the same flora and fauna, and everyone had a chance to enjoy this island as they wished. We even had a chance to see the top predator of this island, which is not the Galapagos hawk as we would have expected, but rather the short-eared owl. It was very strange to see owls hunting during daylight hours.
This archipelago has dazzled us throughout this week, and today was no exception. The creatures that live here have become so well adapted to live in these unusual conditions, and it has been fascinating to see the differences and similarities as we travel from island to island. There is certainly no place quite like the Galapagos Islands.
