Today we anchored in Academy Bay in the south end of Santa Cruz Island, we spent all day on this island and here we had the chance to see Galapagos giant tortoises in captivity at the Fausto Llerena rearing center. During the afternoon we got to see wild tortoises in their natural habitat. Our day on Santa Cruz also let us have time to enjoy a bit of the island´s lifestyle and our guests had time to contribute to the local economy by getting some of the handcrafts on the town´s shops.
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.
