Today we spent the whole day at my home Island: Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz holds the largest population of the Galapagos Archipelago. In the morning we learned about the conservation programs conducted at the giant tortoise breeding center, and we got to see baby tortoises from several islands. This program is the most successful program run by the Galapagos National Park Service. After this visit our guests had some time in Puerto Ayora town and then went to the highlands to a private farm, called El Trapiche. Here our guests got to see how labor intensive the process of coffee production is, and several local products were sampled here. After an excellent lunch, the visit continued to the giant tortoise natural reserve, a great place to see the gentle giants in their natural habitat.
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.
