Galapagos - Genovesa Island

On our last full day we arrived on Genovesa Island. The night before we had sailed for about 6 hours, our longest trip yet, on pretty rough water. I barely got any sleep before we moored at 2 am in Great Darwin Bay, a large caldera, so I was grateful for the shelter when we finally got there. In the morning we went onland to see some nesting sea birds including red footed boobys and frigate birds. There were also loads of other birds to be seen such as various gulls and some of Darwins famous finches. We hiked through a small river and then over some lava to reach a viewpoint of the entire caldera.

We went on our last snorkelling session of the trip in deep, choppy waters. I wasn't hopeful to see much as it was high tide, i just saw large shoals of silver fish. But then I finally saw what I had been wanting to see for the whole trip, hammerhead sharks! I saw a couple of the sharks swimming below me and i couldn't believe it, I followed them until I could barely see our tender! I eventually realised that i had to stop following them and head back to the boat, but i was lucky enough to see a few more. Just as it was time to get back on the boat, a huge shoal of rays passed below me, there must have been a hundred or more! It was a magical site seeing them all glide effortlessly through the water.

After lunch we headed to a different part of the island to see some more birds. On the boat trip there we saw some seals, which are much more rare and more difficult to see on Galapagos than sea lions. As we hiked on the clifftops there were thousands of birds and their chicks. As well as the usual boobys, gulls, and frigate birds, we saw herons, hawks, and the Galapagos Owl. Then we headed back to the boat for the last evenings dinner, where we also shared a drink with the crew and thanked them for being awesome. But the crew soon had to get back to work as we had another 6 hours to sail back to Santa Cruz Island, once again on choppy waters.

On our last morning we had one last excursion in Black Turtle Cove, back on Santa Cruz Island. The cove is surrounded by mangrove forrest, which acts as a shelter for many marine animans, and a breeding ground for sharks. Around sunrise we rowed the boat without its engine running near the entrance of one of the mangrove channels, and just waited. Before long you could see that the channel was a highway for turtles, various rays, and reef sharks, as they swam back and forth from the protection of the mangroves to the cove. Mangroves are also nurseries for sharks, so you can see lots of baby sharks of various types swimming about.

The trip was finally over and I have to say that it was worth it, such a unique experience, I loved every second of it! After we were dropped back at the port, I headed back to Puerto Ayora for one more night before heading back to Lima to explore more of South America...Read more