Today we visited two islands in the center of the archipelago. On Bartholomew, we climbed a wooden staircase to the top of an old cinder cone for a chance to see the famous vista that captures many islands at once, in addition to Pinnacle Rock. In the afternoon, we navigated towards Sombrero Chino, where we had a great time snorkeling from Zodiacs and spotting wildlife. This is the home of a small colony of Galapagos penguins as well as Galapagos sea lions.
5/29/2025
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National Geographic Gemini
Genovesa Island
Genovesa is considered one of the Galapagos crown jewels, and today it was showing off all of its splendor. Immediately after breakfast we put on our sturdy shoes and set out to explore Prince Philip’s Steps. This area is known for opportunities to observe not only large colonies of nesting Nazca and red-footed boobies, but maybe, just maybe, the short-eared owl which exhibits diurnal behavior on this island. After this walk we got ready for a dip in the Pacific Ocean and snorkeling along the inner coast of this caldera. The afternoon was equally amazing as we disembarked to explore Darwin Bay, along a short and easy trail that was packed with wildlife. Here we observed not only nesting frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, and Nazca boobies, but also a few yellow-crowned night herons. It was another incredible afternoon in the Galapagos Islands.
