Early in the morning, we woke up navigating along the northeastern corner of the Galápagos Archipelago. Slowly, the sun appeared above the clouds that surrounded the majestic caldera of Genovesa, considered the island of the birds. We have reached the final full day in the Galápagos Islands.
Today our breakfast was embellished by dramatic views of the impressive volcanic landscape. On board National Geographic Endeavour II, after six hours of navigation, the first activity of the day took place as we dropped anchor. The morning opened with a ride along the cliff of an old collapsed caldera and continued with an outing along the sides of the island. The ship was divided into two groups, half of us to visit Darwin Bay and the other half to visit Prince Phillip’s Steps. Both places were fantastic, full of red footed boobies everywhere, since this island is home to the largest population of them anywhere in the world.
The morning ended with water activities: a fantastic kayaking session where we had the opportunity to take magical pictures of the different species of marine birds, and a great snorkel where we swam surrounded by plenty of colorful fish and Galapagos sea lions. It was a phenomenal experience!
In the afternoon, we switched, and guests visited Prince Phillip’s Steps or Darwin Bay. We walked through the green incense trees and yellow cordia forest that led us to a lava field. During our walk, we spotted red-footed boobies, and also the endemic Nazca boobies with their chicks, as well as many frigate birds. We ended our walk as the sun was setting and we returned to the ship with these great memories. It was a fantastic adventure!
Every day in the Galapagos is an opportunity to re-connect with the beauty of nature through unbelievable encounters and visiting the northeastern region of the Galapagos was no exception. Today’s visit was outstanding!
