Today we explored the north coast of Santiago Island, at Buccaneer’s Cove and Puerto Egas. This central island offers outstanding landscapes with high cliffs and interesting rock formations. Wildlife around this area consists of several seabird species such as blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans, and swallow-tailed gulls. We explored this island by kayaks, Zodiac rides, snorkeling, and walking along a magnificent trail. Today our guests had a blast learning about the natural history and geology of this island. We celebrated the end of this week with a farewell cocktail with Captain Mario Lomas in the lounge of National Geographic Endeavour II.
10/4/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Genovesa Island
With coffee in hand, I stepped out onto the front balcony of the lounge to see what was going on. We had just entered Darwin’s Bay, dropped anchor, and the juvenile red-footed boobies had found the ship and were flying around us on an inspection tour. The rest of the day continued with discoveries of all kinds. An early morning inversion layer (locally known as “garúa”) had fallen and dampened the environment with much desired drops of fresh water, although the chicks of various species didn’t appear terribly pleased in having wet feathers. On our return, the same bedraggled individuals looked smooth, sleek and dry once the sun had come out. The Galapagos National Park has only two sites for visitors, both spectacular, both well worth a slow walk among the palo santo trees to see the great frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galapagos doves, Darwin’s finches, short-eared owls, and storm petrels. Snorkeling, kayaking, and paddleboarding along the base of the cliffs of Darwin’s Bay followed. There’s nothing quite like this island anywhere in the world.