Galapagos Islands: Day 10

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Day 10. March 17, 2011: Genovesa, Darwin Bay

Genovesa/Prince Phillip's Steps

Today we had two landings on Genovesa. Genovesa is a horseshoe shaped island, with a volcanic caldera that collapsed, forming the Great Darwin Bay. On the first landing, we head up Prince Phillips’ steps/El Barranco and are surrounded by frigate birds. Some of the males are just sitting in the trees, while others have their red chests inflated and are competing for a mate. I felt like I was in an exhibit at the zoo, we were so close to so many birds. I think I could have stayed all day and watched the frigates (and I don’t even like birds). We took a walk around part of the island, and there were also very large bushes (like a tree/bush combination), with red footed boobies in the trees (and babies boobies, too)! As well as some Nazca boobies and masked boobies nesting on the ground with eggs. We also went on a quest to find short ear owls, but didn’t see any.

Genovesa/Darwin Bay

After lunch on the boat, we headed back out to Darwin Bay, another beautiful beach with sea lions, to do some snorkeling. We swam out along the rocks looking for fish, turtles and rays. The water was the perfect temperature today, and after a while we headed back to the beach to enjoy the sunshine before heading back to the Galapagos Voyager for dinner. After dinner we sat on top of the boat and did some stargazing before heading to bed. Today was another amazing day in the Galapagos Islands.

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