We started our day by exploring the Galapagos Islands beneath the surface with a snorkeling outing on Gardner Islet. Here we saw many fish, including stingrays, pufferfish, king angelfish, and yellowtail surgeonfish. Then we headed to Gardner Beach, where we had a relaxing time walking on one of the most beautiful white sand beaches of the archipelago. At noon, we came back to the ship for lunch. While on board, we enjoyed a photography talk, where we learned tips for our Galapagos adventure. During our afternoon outing, we got great shots of blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, red-billed tropicbirds, Galapagos hawks, sea lions, marine iguanas, and many others. There are so many unique creatures only found here in the Galapagos Islands.
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.
