Located in the northeastern region of the archipelago, Genovesa is a low and flat island, probably the most isolated of the main islands. It is a very unique island—it has limited flora and fauna but makes up for this with quantity, particularly a large number of seabirds, especially red-footed boobies, frigate birds and Nazca boobies.
Early in the morning we crossed the equator to the northern hemisphere, and just before dusk we finally arrived to this island-volcano, now almost submerged under the blue ocean. After breakfast, we headed ashore to two national park visitors’ sites—one called Prince Phillip steps and the other, Darwin’s Bay. In both cases, we encountered several red-footed boobies nesting in the trees. We also spotted great frigatebirds sitting with their chicks in their nests, while others were chasing boobies and gulls to steal food from them. As the day was a bit cold, we noticed Galapagos marine iguanas were still warming up on the rocks until late in the day. Along the trail on Prince Phillip steps, we also found the land top predator on this island, which is the short-eared owl. The absence of the Galapagos hawk here on Genovesa is a condition that has allowed the owl to take advantage, and this species hunts all day and all night long.
After our morning hikes, we returned aboard to go deep water snorkeling along the cliffs of Darwin’s Bay, which is one of the two calderas in this volcano. It was a very exciting outing, and we saw sea turtles, different colorful fish and some Galapagos sea lions and fur seals.
This afternoon, we went kayaking and hiking along the sandy beach. We observed the four species of finches found in the Galapagos, the most curious and distinctive being the large ground finch. Walking along the red mangrove trees, red-footed boobies and frigatebirds nested or incubated their eggs, observing us but obviously indifferent to our presence. This innocence that exists amongst these creatures is one of the unique features of Galapagos, making it one of the last paradises on earth.
