An ancient caldera witnessed the enthusiasm of our explorers. Early in the morning, to catch the best light of the equatorial sunshine, photographers disembarked at Darwin’s Bay. As soon as we landed, a few sea lions basking in the white sandy beach captured our attention. We also found swallow-tailed gulls and lava gulls on the scenic landscape of Genovesa Island. In the mangrove forest, we spotted the only tree nesting booby in the Galápagos Islands. Red-footed boobies darkened the sky, heading to their fishing grounds on the northeastern side of the archipelago. Along the beach, sea lions and shorebirds entertained us with their playful behavior. Afterward, some guests decided to explore the underwater realm, while others enjoyed a close encounter with the wonders of Genovesa from kayaks, and some spent the rest of the morning at the beach.
Due to its isolation, Genovesa is considered the jewel of the Galápagos Islands. This unique place has a very fragile ecosystem and it is very important to practice sustainable tourism. Thus, to be able to enjoy Mother Nature, later in the morning, our outing took place on Prince Phillip’s Steps. From the top of the island, we observed the magnitude of the caldera of the ancient shield volcano. As we walked through a Palo Santo forest, Nazca boobies, mockingbirds, Galápagos doves and Darwin’s finches charmed us with their sounds. The trail took us to an old rocky plain oxidized by erosion. Since the Galápagos hawk is absent on the island, short-eared owls have become diurnal and prey on petrels. Storm petrels were extremely abundant on the ancient lava field and we were astonished by their bizarre behavior. Because they fly during daytime to avoid predators, they only return to their nest holes at night. The perfect camouflage of the short-eared owls’ plumage against the brown rocks surprised many petrels landing on the lava field.
Our afternoon walk concluded with unexpected visitors close to shore. Galápagos sharks and black-tipped sharks surrounded the shallow bay while our explorers boarded Zodiacs. Our day ended with a bizarre sunset that illuminated the rim of Genovesa Island.
