Genovesa Island
Genovesa is an island deep in my heart, one of my favorite places in the Galápagos, for endless reasons. Sometimes one takes things for granted, but today I decided to enjoy and appreciate every little detail of this piece of land located in the far northeastern side of the archipelago. I observed how our captain, Juan Rueda, maneuvered to enter the caldera early in the morning, and I watched how the first sun rays highlighted the lava layers formed thousands of years ago. Once inside the volcano, I closed my eyes and listened to the swallow-tailed gulls coming back to their nesting sites. As soon as red-footed boobies realized we had anchored, they came from all over to land on the mast. It was a bright morning, and after enjoying the many birds of the island, people were ready to jump in the water. Many snorkeled along the rim of the caldera and from the beach. In the afternoon, some of our guests opted for a walk in search of short-eared owls, and they found three! A few others preferred a Zodiac ride along the walls of the volcano. Some guests kayaked all afternoon, absorbing the island at their own pace. It was a lot of fun to jump in the water from the ship when we came back from either walks or rides. When everybody was on board, we weighed anchor to head outside the caldera and enjoy sunset drinks from the sky deck, with the view of the open ocean outside the island, with sea breeze in our faces and big smiles in our hearts…and then the stars appeared.
Genovesa is an island deep in my heart, one of my favorite places in the Galápagos, for endless reasons. Sometimes one takes things for granted, but today I decided to enjoy and appreciate every little detail of this piece of land located in the far northeastern side of the archipelago. I observed how our captain, Juan Rueda, maneuvered to enter the caldera early in the morning, and I watched how the first sun rays highlighted the lava layers formed thousands of years ago. Once inside the volcano, I closed my eyes and listened to the swallow-tailed gulls coming back to their nesting sites. As soon as red-footed boobies realized we had anchored, they came from all over to land on the mast. It was a bright morning, and after enjoying the many birds of the island, people were ready to jump in the water. Many snorkeled along the rim of the caldera and from the beach. In the afternoon, some of our guests opted for a walk in search of short-eared owls, and they found three! A few others preferred a Zodiac ride along the walls of the volcano. Some guests kayaked all afternoon, absorbing the island at their own pace. It was a lot of fun to jump in the water from the ship when we came back from either walks or rides. When everybody was on board, we weighed anchor to head outside the caldera and enjoy sunset drinks from the sky deck, with the view of the open ocean outside the island, with sea breeze in our faces and big smiles in our hearts…and then the stars appeared.
