This lonely rock, Genovesa Island, is populated by more than a million nesting birds, and it is known as “Bird’s Island” for this reason. We arrived today at the last island of our expedition. Birds here don’t fear humans and therefore usually unaware of our presence.
Early in the morning our first activity was kayaking and Zodiac riding to kick off a warm day. After breakfast we landed at Darwin’s Bay where there is a beach comprised of broken pieces of white coral and where the beginning of our trail is located. We did not have to go too far before finding birds, including the highlight of today’s visit- the red-footed boobies. We also found frigate birds, as they were feeding their babies upon returning from stealing fish from other birds! After a hot morning some of us needed to refresh and there was a last chance to snorkel in these waters full of big animals like rays and turtles. We even had the chance to see some playful sea lions.
After lunch we collected the many pictures of the week that guests shared for our slideshow, an item that everybody will receive later as a souvenir. After a well-deserved siesta we visited Prince Phillip’s Steps. This location offers a very different terrain from the one in the morning. In this area we found a rocky trail covered by a forest of palo-santo trees and endless nests of sea birds, especially Nazca boobies. We also found hundreds of thousands of storm petrels and in their flying areas we searched for the short-eared owl, the top of the food chain in this land. As the afternoon concluded we cruised back on board, observing the beautiful blue ocean around us. This was our last day in paradise…
