Today we woke up at Darwin’s Bay on Genovesa Island. This collapsed caldera is a unique place where thousands of seabirds can be observed in their different life stages.
We disembarked in the morning for a natural history walk at Darwin’s Bay Beach, where we had a close look at red-footed boobies, one of the three species of boobies that nest in the Galapagos. We also saw Nazca boobies, frigate birds, swallow-tail gulls, and lava gulls. Then we had the opportunity to snorkel with Galapagos fur seals, the second species of sea lions that guests were expecting to see during this trip.
In the afternoon, we went for a hike at Prince Philip’s Steps. This was a successful exploration as we observed the short-eared owl, a typically nocturnal species that became diurnal on this Island because of the absence of its competitor, the Galapagos hawk. We finished this day celebrating with a toast onboard National Geographic Islander.
