Passengers disembarked at Prince Phillip’s steps for a long hike through a variety of seabirds: red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, storm petrels, and swallow-tailed gulls. Guests had the opportunity to witness a short-eared owl feeding on a storm petrel just off the path. Later, guests enjoyed a snorkel along a steep cliff formation that drops into a collapsed crater below the sea where we saw a large marbled ray and the beautiful Moorish idol fish.
5/29/2025
Read
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.
