On the last day of our journey, we encountered a “land before time” where avian wildlife has flourished. We arrived early and navigated into Darwin Bay, one of the few calderas on Earth where you can enter from the open ocean. The skies were clouded with great frigatebirds, Nazca boobies, tropicbirds, and red-footed boobies. During our exploration inland, we observed short-eared owls preying upon Elliot’s and Galapagos storm petrels as well as active nests of Nazca boobies and red-footed boobies with chicks. As the sun dipped below the horizon, swallow-tailed gulls cared for eggs and recently hatched young ones, and the ocean calmed down as we returned to our floating home, 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.
