Genovesa Island , 2/14/2020, National Geographic Endeavour II
Aboard the
National Geographic Endeavour II
Galápagos
Today, after a nice and smooth navigation, we arrived to the northern part of the archipelago. Genovesa Island is definitely one of the jewels of the crown. We have come all the way here to admire the beautiful red-footed boobies. We started our morning hiking on the island, admiring the red-footed boobies, the frigate birds with the inflated pouches, Nazca boobies, short eared owls, different species of finches, and much more. After the hike we came back on board to get ready for our water activities, where our guests had the opportunity to either snorkel or kayak. It was fun!
We enjoyed a delicious Galapagos lunch before heading back to Genovesa to continue our explorations.
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Today was our first full day of expedition, and we started by visiting North Seymour Island. This is a small, flat, and windy site where big colonies of marine birds nest. The main species are frigatebirds and blue-footed boobies. This is the beginning of the dry season, so the marine life is starting courtship rituals all around! We walked through a forest of incense trees and dry bush that lost their leaves at the start of the season, as they are deciduous plants. Their greenery will grow back when the wet season returns. The area is also home for a big population of land iguanas, which are now wandering around the whole island in search of food. In the afternoon, we went to the red island, Rabida. We landed on a red sand beach where we enjoyed an amazing first snorkel with sea lions and colorful fish. The contrast with the red sandy bottom makes the fish even more colorful. After our beach time, we explored the inside of the island by following a trail that took us to a brackish water lagoon where flamingos are now nesting. The end of the wet season left behind a couple juvenile and baby flamingos that are still feeding from this lagoon before they can fly around the other islands. We ended our day by hiking to the top of a small hill that offers an amazing view of the lagoon, the beach, and the bay. What a privilege to witness so much life and so much action!
Most of the Galapagos Islands are located south of the equatorial line; however, Genovesa is north of the equatorial line. The water temperature is warmer at this latitude compared with the rest of the archipelago. The flora and fauna have very special adaptations. Genovesa has the smallest marine iguanas of the six populations found in Galapagos. It also has one of the smallest prickly pear cactus trees due to the lack of terrestrial reptiles.
Today we explored the western part of Santa Cruz Island to find dragons. Galapagos is known for its endemic reptiles, and the last one we needed to find for our species checklist was the Galapagos land iguana, a yellow reptile with an intimidating gaze that lives in burrows and basks in the sun on many of the islands. A good place to find them is the western part of Santa Cruz at a site called Dragon Hill. This is a restored area of the national park. In Santa Cruz, we have a large human population. The area used to have a lot of introduced species, but they were locally eradicated. Iguanas bred in the research station were returned to the wild. During our hike in this dry forest, we encountered quite a few. We observed some iguanas engaged in mating behavior, which consists of a slow chase by the males with the females walking away from them. Land iguanas are a sister species of marine iguanas, but they have very different habitats and behavior. It was interesting to see their burrows and habitats. As the day warmed up, it was time to go to the water. For the rest of the morning, we snorkeled. Our hotel department offered an Ecuadorian lunch, so we got to taste many of the dishes that are part of the diverse Ecuadorian cuisine. For the afternoon, we enjoyed exploring the mangrove forest of Borrero Bay. Some guests took a Zodiac ride with naturalists who explain the benefits of this ecosystem to our planet. Other guests kayaked or paddleboarded peacefully. There was even a Zodiac driving lesson for the kids! We a had a lot of fun looking for baby sharks, rays, and turtles in the area. We finished our day with a wine tasting event on the sun deck while circumnavigating Daphne Mayor at sunset, which is a site of scientific interest.
