We sailed through the night to get to Genovesa Island. During breakfast, I learned that many of the islands have 2 names. One official name, and another name that pirates and buccaneers used in the past. Genovesa was called Tower Island. Personally, I think it is weird to continue to mark the old names on the map. Do I have a reader that can explain that to me?
The Nemo III anchored in Darwin Bay and we took the dingy (also known as the panga) to Prince Phillip’s steps. This is a steep path on the side of a cliff that leads to an enormous bird colony. On our way to the steps, our dingy stalled in the middle of the bay. No one seemed nervous and the dingy driver (captain?) had it working within minutes. Oh Ecuador, somethings never change. I do miss that tranquillo attitude sometimes.
When we got to the steps the tide was not acting as expected. Every 5 – 10 seconds the ocean level would change by 10 feet. It was a precarious situation. The dingy would push forward on the rock and we’d offload 2 people each time. More than once it looked like we were going to lose a passenger, but in time we all made it to land.
Genovesa is an island ruled by birds. The nazca and red-footed boobies reign supreme on this island. We hiked through the bird colony looking for the short-eared owl, which we eventually found hiding in a small cave. The red-footed booby is my favorite Galápagos bird. The return to the boat was much less eventful.
Later that day we went snorkeling. I loved it. There were many schools of beautifully colored fish. I cannot remember any of their names, but one type is called a bumphead. That name makes me laugh and I started calling my cat “bumphead”, because she is always headbutting into things.
At the end of the day, we had a long haul sail back toward the center of the archipelago against the current. This made for a pretty rough go of it for everyone. Sam, Holly, and I all vomited. Most of the other passengers had sleepless nights. Even our guide considered it a very long night.
At breakfast the next day, the neighbors next to Sam and I mentioned: “It seemed like a violent night in your cabin.” It really felt like that from our perspective as well.
Next: Isla Santiago
Rarely Pure & Never Simple 