In the early hours of the day, we arrived at the caldera of Genovesa Island, better known as Darwin Bay, where we spent our day exploring.
Genovesa Island has several colonies of seabirds that nest here throughout the year. This island also has two landing areas and we explored both places. Our first stop is known as “Prince Phillip’s Steps” and it goes along the coast, where we observed red footed boobies, Nazca boobies, swallow tailed gulls, and great frigatebirds. Some of the male frigatebirds were already exhibiting their red gular pouches, which is a sign that the breeding season has officially started for their species. We were also on the lookout for the top predator of the island, the short eared owl, and after looking for a while, we found three, sitting well camouflaged on the lava flow.
Our second stop on this island was the beach side, where we found some Galapagos sea lions resting in the white sand, as well as large numbers of red footed boobies nesting in the red mangrove trees. As we looked around the area we also noticed the incense trees covered with tiny white flowers, which permeate a sweet over the entire island.
After our walk, we went snorkeling along the cliffs of Darwin Bay and found several colorful fish such as Moorish idols, King angelfish, different species of parrot fish, and the always playful Galapagos sea lions that joined us for a while.
For the afternoon, after a kayaking excursion, we went ashore to explore this island once more. We were joined by a light rain that accompanied us for the whole afternoon, but that was not enough to stop us from seeing, enjoying and marvelling at the beauty of this island and its wildlife.
