Genovesa can only be accessed by ships with 20 or fewer
passengers, so not every cruise to the Galapagos goes here.
Genovesa lies on the northeast end of the archipelago.
Our tour company (Ecoventura) went to two places on
Genovesa Island: Prince Phillips Steps and Darwin Bay.
Prince Phillip's Steps are a
series of stairs up a cliff and then we walked around and saw nesting red-footed
boobies, Nazca boobies, short-eared owls, and other birds.
Later in the day, we went to Darwin Bay, a sandy beach where we snorkeled.
The Great frigatebird inflates the red balloon like pouch to attract a mate.
We only saw red-footed boobies on
Genovesa.
A breeding pair of Nazca boobies.
We also only saw short-eared owls on Genovesa. They hang out
in the rocky outcroppings.
Lava cactus is one of the first species to colonize bare lava.
A breeding pair of swallow-tailed gulls.
A Galapagos fur seal pup. Fur seals are Otariids, or eared seals,
the sea lion family.
I love the expression of the adult seal here.
It's like "I'm not your mama!"
