Today was the day focused on birds of Genovesa Island. First stop was El Barranco, a small set of steps leading up to a cliff where we saw Red Footed and Nazca boobies for the first time, along with the baby chicks that were molting away their down feathers. The Red Footed boobies were even prettier than the Blue Footed boobies! We also saw male Frigate birds with their bright red pouches inflated to attract mates. It was pretty impressive to see. Our guids also pointed out a short eared lava owl hunting. It is the only owl that is not nocturnal.
After the hike, we did some snorkeling along the cliff. All of the bird guano washes off the cliff and fertilizes the sea plants there, which attracts lots of different fish.
In the afternoon, after lunch and siesta, we visited Darwin Bay also on Genovesa Island. Here we went for a short walk to see some more frigate birds and Red Footed boobies then dawned our snorkeling gear and did some snorkeling around the beach. We saw 3 more sharks! This time it was a little bit scary because the water was pretty shallow and very murky, so they just showed up out of nowhere right in front of our faces! We forgot the camera on this one, but because of the murkiness the pictures wouldn’t have turned out very well.
We headed back to the boat and started packing. During happy hour, we had a glass of farewell champagne and toasts to the crew and to the journey. Dinner tonight was lobster. We had a great view of the stars after dinner because the moon rose a little later than usual.
Travel Fun With Cassie and Alejandro 