Genovesa Island
Genovesa or Tower Island is a paradise for seabirds; here they can not only find a place to nest, but because of the absence of land predators, large concentrations of Nazca boobies are dancing or even taking care for of their newly hatched chicks. Red-footed boobies and great frigatebirds are performing their courtship dance with their red pouches inflated to attract the attention of the flying females; all of them can nest on the bare ground or just above the ground on very low shrubs, the vast area of ocean provides them all with a large supply of food.
We walked through a Palo Santo and mangrove forest among numerous nests of frigatebirds, yellow-crowned night herons, Nazca boobies, storm petrels, and we had even the chance to see a short-eared owl, which was hunting storm petrels during the daytime.
The cliffs around the caldera are teeming with life; every single crevice or cave hosted Galápagos shearwaters, red-billed tropicbirds, swallow-tailed gulls (the only nocturnal gull in the world). Galápagos fur seals quietly floated along the shore with their flippers up in the air like synchronized swimmers.
We submerged ourselves into the waters of the bay in search of colorful tropical fish as well as hammerhead sharks or manta rays that stay close inshore during the day, then later in the afternoon swim away to the deeper sea to feed.
Some of us explored the cliffs along the shore in kayaks, enjoying the frenetic activity of the seabirds, the sea lions that swam near us and the sea turtles that came slowly and gracefully up to the surface to take a breath.
The day and the week has gone so fast, everything seems to be a dream, but a dream that will last within our memories for ever and ever. What a wonderful day, what a wonderful week!!
