We awoke this morning north of the Equator and in what felt like a different world on the island of Genovesa. The National Geographic Endeavour anchored within the submerged caldera, surrounded by the cliffs of the islands and a multitude of birds soaring overhead. Even while we could see that this isolated island provided great habitat for bird colonies, it was impossible to visualize what lay ahead on the two very different shore excursions.
Darwin Bay is a low-lying sandy area bordered by lava cliffs and mangrove trees. While this trail is only a short half-mile walk, many of us could have stayed longer than the two hours that we spent here. Red-footed and Nazca boobies, swallow tailed gulls, and frigatebirds nest in this area. During this time of year, there are many juveniles of each species so we were able to see each bird in various stages of life. A young great frigatebird attempted time and again to fly away from its perch with confidence, while only making it a few feet to another shrub and then back to its nest. An adult swallow tailed gull fed its very young chick, which we watched stumble to navigate the uneven surface of a boulder. We waded through a beautiful sandy flat submerged at high tide with clear blue water to come eye-to-eye with nesting red-footed boobies while a juvenile Galápagos sea lion swam between us. The sheer number of birds, with all of their sounds and movement caused many of us to pause in wonder at the activity and beauty that surrounded us.
Across the caldera there was a much different scene. Steps cut out of the rock cliff lead up to a flat that serves as a nesting site for Nazca boobies. There were places where we could see these ground dwelling birds nearby their tree-perched red-footed counterparts. One of our goals for this walk was spotting the short-eared owl. While it was distant for some, there were a few lucky guests who saw one of these beautiful creatures up close.
This evening, as we lifted our glasses to a wonderful week among new friends and old, we did so in the presence of superheroes, ghosts, and other characters that, even in the Galápagos, only come out once a year.
