We spent the day at Espanola Island, one of the oldest islands in the Galapagos Archipelago. The island hosts a large number of seabirds, and it is the only nesting site of the waved albatross. In the morning, we visited Gardner Bay. This white sand beach is home to Galapagos sea lions, and it is a perfect place to enjoy time with these amazing animals. Then we went snorkeling at Gardner Islet with more playful sea lions! In the afternoon, we visited Punta Suarez, where we observed Nazca boobies. We walked by nesting waved albatrosses and were delighted to see blue-footed boobies, too. A perfect day in paradise!
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.
