Genovesa Island, 9/1/2017, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
Today we woke up right at the entrance of Darwin Bay located on Genovesa Island. Our activities began after having breakfast and we stayed inside the bay, which is also a collapsed caldera. We had different options for everyone; we went walking, snorkeling, kayaking and paddle boarding here at Genovesa Island that is also the home for the largest colony of red-footed boobies in the planet.
Gilda was born in Ambato, located in the very heart of the Ecuadorian Andes. Since she was a child, she loved animals, often rescuing street cats and dogs. Her parents always made sure there were nature books and plenty of Jacques Cousteau’s videos a...
Eric began his life on the far western edge of Chicago, where the concrete meets the cornfields. His inspiration has always drawn from the expansive beauty of the natural world, as well as the endless forms that populate it.
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Today we arrived at Española, the oldest island of the archipelago, in the southeastern realm of Galapagos. We started our activities early in the morning with snorkeling; some guests opted for deep-water snorkeling, to enjoy the deep blue with amazing marine wildlife at Gardner Islet, while others chose to snorkel from the beach. We finished our morning activities with a visit to Gardner Bay, to enjoy its coralline, stunningly soft white sand beach and turquoise waters. Later in the afternoon, we headed to Punta Suarez. There our guests enjoyed the presence of lots of sea lions playing at the coast. We also saw marine iguanas, gathering in large groups over old lava boulders for warmth. We observed many different birds as well, including blue-footed boobies, nesting Nazca boobies, and the Galapagos hawk. It was an amazing first full day in Galapagos!
Today was the final day of exploration on our cruise around the Galapagos Islands. We dropped anchor by breakfast time at Punta Pitt, the northern part of San Cristobal. Here we walked around an old tuff cone to find a new species of bird for our guests, the red-footed booby. These seabirds are tree nesters, and they are found in a handful of places in the archipelago. To the surprise of everyone we had some rain in the middle of the hike; we returned to the beach and enjoyed some time there. In the afternoon the ship moved to Cerro Brujo for our final outing of the voyage. Here our guests had their last swimming opportunity in the crystal-clear waters with three-foot waves. To end the day we moved to Kicker Rock, for a circumnavigation of the most famous islet in Galapagos, to enjoy some champagne and celebrate life.
After being in touch with pure nature for many days, we reached civilization for one day. After breakfast, some of us decided to visit the Charles Darwin Breeding Center to admire the conservation programs that take place there. This work not only encompasses the tortoises, but other species that have been threatened in previous centuries by introduced plants and animals. Despite the heat and humidity, we had the opportunity to support the local economy until we got split into groups to visit the highlands of the island. One group went to the sugarcane plantation and the other visited the hydroponic farm. Both visits made us realize how people make a living in a sustainable way that remains harmless to nature. We followed up our tours with a terrific lunch. When we were finished, it started to rain, but once it slowed down, most of us decided to walk with our ponchos to look for the giant tortoises roaming in the wild.
