Day 19 - Galapagos - Genovesa Island


We were awoken by Pauls alarm at 5.15 instead of the intended 6.15.   The Galapagos islands are one hour behind the Ecuadorian mainland so 6 hours behind GMT.  We had changed our watches but usually the phones change automatically but this didn’t happen.   So we had a coffee and went back to bed for an hour.

After breakfast we were taken to Darwin Bay on Genovesa Island for a walk along the beach.  We saw no end of birds and a few sea lions.  On this island we saw nesting Red Footed Boobies (both white and brown feathered), Nasca Boobies, Great Frigate Birds, Swallow Tail Gulls, mocking birds and many others.  There are no land reptiles here so the vegetation is not eaten.  Because of this the spines of the cacti were very soft.

Swallow Tailed Gull

Nazca Boobie

Red Footed Boobie with white plumage



Red Footed Boobie with dark plumage

Red Footed Boobies - one with dark plumage and one with white

Cactus & flowers

Red Footed Boobie with dark plumage


Galapagos Mocking Bird

Cactus Finch (possible)

Large Frigate Bird

Galapagos Dove

Giant Frigate Birds
Giant Frigate Bird

Nazca Boobie 

Juvenile Nazca Boobie

Juvenile Yellow Crested Night Heron

Galapagos Mocking Bird

Leaving the beach by Panga

The next activity was snorkelling off the island where again we saw a great variety of fish.









When we arrived back at the boat, lunch was being prepared on the upper deck (under a canopy) rather than in the dining room.

After lunch we went kayaking along the side of the island where we saw some fur sea lions playing in the sea.  Because it was a very hot day they had come into the water to cool off.  Our guide said we were lucky to see this.  I then did a bit of snorkelling alongside the sea lions.

Pacific Green Turtle

Sea Lion

Kayaking



Late afternoon we went to the 2nd of the 2 landing points on this island which is called Prince Philips Steps, named after a visit by the Duke of Edinburgh.  It involved a dry landing, a climb up 90 steps to the top of the cliffs and a walk along the lava stones.  Again there were Red Footed and Nazca Boobies nesting everywhere.  After some time of searching we eventually saw a short eared owl.  These are daytime hunters and prey on the petrels.  As we made our way back we saw a Yellow crested night heron.

Nazca Boobie 

Nazca Boobies




Great Frigate Bird

Great Frigate Birds

Great Frigate Bird


Cattle Egret
Short Eared Owl

Mocking Bird

Adult Yellow Crested Night Heron


We have a lounge area and an adjacent dining room on the middle deck.  Snacks are always available as is tea, coffee and fresh water.  The water is produced by a desalination plant on the boat.  It produces water for showering and washing and also drinking water which is further filtered.  We had a lovely dinner after which a David Attenborough film of the Galapagos Islands was shown.

We have another rough night in store as the boat makes its way back south across the equator to the South Plaza Islet, which takes 8 hours.






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