We spent our last day anchored inside the caldera of Genovesa Island. This isolated island is the northeastern-most island of the archipelago. Inhabited by hundreds of thousands of birds, this tiny island offered our guests the best up close experience on two walks: Darwin’s Beach and Prince Phillips Steps. This was also our chance to see the red-footed boobies up close. Genovesa is a jewel of the Galapagos. Because it is far from the other islands, we are fortunate to visit this spectacular, enchanted island of birds.
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.
