On the first morning of our expedition in the Enchanted Isles, we anchored near North Seymour. It’s a small, flat island that may look uninteresting from a distance, but it is full of amazing wildlife. Seabirds like the nutrient-rich waters that surround the island, amongst them both magnificent and great frigatebird species which like the arid vegetation where they can nest. At lunchtime we navigated to Rabida and landed on its unique red beach, home to a colony of endemic and ever-so-busy Galápagos sea lions.
5/29/2025
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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.