Today we arrived at the incredible island of Genovesa. This place is populated by many, many birds and is the reason why this island is known as “Birds Island”. These birds and other species have not learned to fear humans, so they are very comfortable around visitors.
Early risers were able to enjoy morning kayaking before the rest of the ship awoke. After breakfast we landed on Darwin’s Bay’s beach, where there is an area littered with broken pieces of white coral and where the beginning of our trail is located. We did not have to wait too long before finding birds, especially the highlight of today’s visit, red-footed boobies. We also found frigate birds as they were feeding their babies, returning from stealing fish from other species! After exploring in the morning sun, some of us needed to refresh. We were happy to have a chance to snorkel in these waters, filled with big animals like rays and turtles. We even had the chance to see some elusive sharks.
After lunch and a short siesta we visited Prince Phillip’s Steps. This location offers a very different terrain from the one in the morning. In this area we found a rocky trail tangled with a net of lava tunnels, where storm petrels nest and in it we succeeded finding the short-eared owl, the top of the food chain in this land. Nasca boobies were everywhere and they contributed to the enjoyment of the day, our last day…
