Genovesa Island, 4/20/2025, National Geographic Delfina
Aboard the
National Geographic Delfina
Galápagos
We spent the day on the beautiful Genovesa Island. This place is outstanding, especially for those who love seabirds. Red-footed boobies and Nazca boobies were abundant along the trails. We observed plenty of juvenile frigatebirds and even a few males displaying a fully inflated red pouch.
This island is special, and definitely a great place to start our adventure exploring the Galapagos Islands.
Javier grew up on Santa Cruz island where his grandparents first arrived in the 1940´s. Veritable pioneers, his grandparents settled in the highlands where they found a place to raise their children.
Today we visited Santa Cruz, the second largest island in the archipelago and the home to 25,000 people. During the morning we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station, where our guests learned all about the conservation work they have maintained since 1960. Afterward we explored the town of Puerto Ayora for some local culture and shopping. Later in the day we explored the highlands of the island, where our guests enjoyed observing the Santa Cruz giant tortoises (Geochelone porteri) at Manzanillo reserve.
We started the morning with kayaking at Floreana; this island is in the south-central area of the archipelago, and was the first island in Galapagos to be populated. We visited Post Office Bay, where we checked out the postcards from the famed first mail system in all of the Americas: the post office barrel. Afterward we also explored the amazing lava tunnel of the pirates. After lunch we relocated the ship to our next destination, Champion Islet, for some astounding snorkeling. Later we visited Punta Cormorant, where we found flamingos, many blue-footed boobies, and hundreds of nests of Pacific green sea turtles. Today we visited an island like no other; what an amazing adventure in paradise!
The morning started with our guests going out to kayak and paddleboard along the shoreline of Gardner Bay. Then we explored a beach that has a big colony of sea lions; it was an incredible experience to sit on the beach close to them. Later we snorkeled around Gardner Islet; as soon as we jumped into the ocean, we saw amazing marine wildlife, including sharks, rays, marine turtles, and a great variety of multicolored fish. Toward the end we had a big surprise — a pod of about 100 bottlenose dolphins arrived and swam all around us. What a unique and memorable moment! An event that happens once in a blue moon. The afternoon was magical too, as we walked among marine iguanas, lizards, crabs, mockingbirds, and the majestic waved albatrosses. The journey was outstanding, unique, amazing, unforgettable — and it is just the beginning of our week exploring these Enchanted Islands.
