Genovesa Island

We sailed north to Genovesa Island overnight, putting the anchor down at 6:15 am. We are in the front of the boat, so we didn’t hear the engine very much, but the anchor going down was loud.

Breakfast was at 7 am and our guide announced that he was switching order the two morning activities. We would go snorkeling first as the weather was nice.

We went snorkeling off the panga (zodiac boat) at 8 am in Darwin Bay. The waves are hitting the bay wall, putting a lot of air bubbles in the water that reduce visibility.

We did see a hammerhead shark 40 ft below us, they tend to be very shy around humans and leave quickly once spotted.

Snorkeling trips are about 45 minutes in the water, we were back on the boat by 9:30 am. Then we quickly get cleaned up and changed for hiking. At 10:30 we left on the zodiacs for a wet landing on the Playa beach on Darwin Bay. We brought water shoes for the wet landings. This hike isn’t very long, so we just wore them for the whole hike.

We saw our first Red-footed Booby, but we didn’t get to see it’s feet as it’s sitting on a nest with a chick.

A little later we got to see the feet.

There are many Great Frigatebird nests.

Frigatebird males inflate their throat sack during mating season to attract females.

We made it back on board the ship by 11:45, with a few minutes to get cleaned up for lunch. After lunch there is some time for a nap or to work through photos.

At 2:45 we left for a dry landing at El Barranco also known as Prince Phillip’s Steps.

Genovesa island was closed last year for seven months because of the bird flu. Our guide was one of the last tours before it closed and reported seeing a number of dead birds.

The wildlife hasn’t learned to fear humans and the National Park rules try to keep it that way. This mockingbird stayed within 5-6 feet of several of us as we stopped to photograph it. There were numerous times on this visit that my lens was too long, and I had to figure out how to back up to take a photo. The Yellow-crowned Heron above was one of those photos.

Charles Darwin studied the finches and the mockingbirds carefully in the Galapagos and used the differences in the mockingbirds between the islands to develop his theory of evolution.

This Nazca Booby had its eggs right next to the walking path.

This Nazca Booby with a chick was a few feet from the path without a care in the world as we walked by. These boobies are fairly large and there wasn’t enough room for me to back up far enough to get a photo with both the parent and chick.

The cliff tops are barren and the short-eared owl hangs out in this area. I brought the long lens as it would be needed here. I also caught the tropicbird going into its nest.

It started raining while we were coming back as we got close to Prince Phillips stairs and the zodiacs. It poured as the zodiacs went back to the ship. I forgot to bring rain gear for myself, but had a ziplock bag over the camera inside the backpack, which was enough to keep it dry. I and the outside of the backpack were soaked when we got back at 5 pm.

Then it was time to get cleaned up for the 6:30 briefing for tomorrow and then dinner at 7 pm.