Genovesa: Birds & Babies

I slept terrible last night. Like super terrible. As the yacht moved through the night, crossing from the Southern Hemisphere up to the Northern, I moved as well; tossing and turning all night long. A musty smell, hot room, and headachy amongst the waves were determined to keep me awake. After getting nowhere trying to sleep for hours I found my travel fan and sleeping pills to be a savior. Nevertheless, I was still awake before the 6:45am wake up call and before the 7am breakfast time I was in the salon sipping my first cup of tea and reviewing the day’s itinerary that had been left on the screen. I realized that one of the perks of a trip like this was a lack of decision fatigue; everything was planned out and orchestrated like a well oiled machine so the passenger’s brains could just relax and absorb it all in.

Opening the door this morning I was thrilled to see Genovesa Island before me. The yacht had traveled north east overnight, for approximately eight hours, to get us here. Anchor was now down and the yacht sitting in the sunken caldera of this volcanic island. I got ready quick and early, made my tea, and settled in for some morning quiet time.

I thought the chicken wings on the breakfast buffet was an interesting option; alongside the fruit, granola, yogurt, oatmeal, bacon, sausage, and egg station. When Jaime, the head of the dining program, came around to offer juice I squealed with excitement when he offered guanabana as an option and he poured me two glasses.

After breakfast was wetsuit fitting and snorkel bag distribution that each passenger was responsible for during their length of stay on the yacht. The snorkel business aside, they loaded us into two pangas to take us to the island; dropping us at the base of Prince Philip’s steps. Kyra and Paul had already visited Genovesa on their previous cruise so chose to stay behind and rest. This was a great opportunity for me to focus on getting to know other passengers on the small yacht as we hiked around the island.

Two guides serve the yacht and Andreas was my guide for this excursion. For each excursion us yachters were broken up into two groups of no more than 10-11 together at a time. Genovesa is a super bird sanctuary where all three types of boobies (red-footed, blue-footed, and masked) could be found alongside frigates (both great and magnificent), short-eared owls, and more. During the short panga ride to the island a sea turtle popped his head up right beside us, as if to wish us “buenos dias” before diving back down. As soon as we reached the top of Prince Philips steps the group was immediately greeted by birds all around. Curious masked boobies waddled over to see who had come onto their island. Apparently they were named boobies by the Spaniards because they are such a curious and goofy bird and it’s so true!

Great frigate males showed off their finest attributes, with their red chest pouches extended. Male frigates pick up on the ladies by displaying their beautiful pouches. It can take up to six days for them to fully inflate when the mood strikes and once inflated they rarely flew. The bigger and brighter the pouch, the more attractive the boy. Throughout the hike there were innumerable displays of the red pouched show-offs and the ladies, with their white heads and no colorful pouch, checking them out.

Andreas led us past a fissure in the ground and I startled with excitement; a short-eared owl was on full display tucked into a little shelter in the wall within the crevice and amongst the surround palo santo trees. The owls were the hardest to spot on the island so I had tried to temper my expectations and knew that I might not see one but here it was! The fissure was created as in this area the two tectonic plates beneath the surface were moving apart and the ground was sinking.

Red-footed boobies perched in trees, showing off their bright feet; some brown feathers, some white. While the masked boobies make a poop circle and lay their eggs on the ground within a poop circle the red-footed boobies nested in trees. On another tree one brown and one white red-footed boobie were staring longingly into each other’s eyes; “It looks like they are having a first date!” Andreas quipped. A few seconds later this date was taken to the next level as white boobie hopped upon the brown and they put on a mating show in front of us. I had just caught boobie porn on video! It’s rare for the different colored birds to cross-mate but it occasionally happens; with the brown color a more dominant gene. Later on the hike we actually spotted a hybrid between a brown and white; it was a beautiful marbled mocha. The red-footed boobies were gorgeous birds with their iridescent blue beaks, puffy feathers, and flamboyant feet.

We walked by a boobie sitting on her egg but moved quick and did not linger to take a pic as to not interrupt her. A little further off a fluffy white baby boobie cuddled up to a parent. Andreas was a wealth of knowledge on all the birds and the ways they had to adapt or die. I was learning so much on this hike and I was soaking up every factoid that I could. An open lava field on the edge of the island was a bit of a birdie graveyard, showing the remains of smaller birds, petrals, that had been eaten by owls and boobies who had not done a good job learning how to boobie and basically concussed themselves to death failing to properly dive into the water or land on solid ground. Phallic lava cactus occasionally dotted the field of basaltic lava and bones.

I was also making friends with my fellow yacht passengers; chatting quite a bit with Andrea from Switzerland and Linda from Colorado/Florida (but originally from California, a Bay Area escapee) as we hiked and observed the birds. Andrea is Columbian and helped me work on my Spanish; I sooo want to learn to speak proficiently!

Trying not be so upstaged by the boobies and frigates, a mockingbird put on a show trying to eat a giant caterpillar while another juvenile fledgling, soft with down, watched us curiously from the side of the trail. The visit to this side of Genovesa was a full circle of life experience from breeding to death, and everything in between.

Descending back down Prince Philips steps the panga met us to take us back to the yacht. It was deep water snorkel time. Back on board everyone geared up in our wet suits and then the panga took us back near the steps and off we jumped into the water. Jumping off into the cold deep water was not easy for me; I’m not comfortable in cold or water and I didn’t have B here to catch me. Linda was seated next to me on the panga and shared my discomfort so together we made the leap into the water; it was really nice to have a new friend with which to help me get over the hump of that moment. A fur seal (technically a sea lion but they are commonly referred to as seals) lounged on a rock with his cute little face, stubbier and fuzzier than a traditional Galápagos sea lion. Fun fact: Galápagos sea lions are very closely related to the California sea lions. Also a fun fact; the snorkeling on this side of the island wasn’t very interesting. Like not at all. I gave it a good of probably 40 minutes before finally raising my hand for the panga to come get me since I was just plain bored.

After snorkeling it was back on the yacht for lunch and downtime before our visit to Bahia de Darwin (Darwin’s Bay). The timing of the island visits are very regulated by the National Park as no more than 200 people are allowed per day on each of the uninhabited islands and more than 100 each in the morning and afternoon. Every two years the National Park service reviews the itineraries of each of the 49 yachts that operates in the Galápagos and approves or adjusts their schedules to ensure the conservation of the islands. I LOVED learning this! One of my major complaints about Thailand had been out disgustingly overrun run with tourists their islands were, how much they were just getting decimated, so this was music to my ears.

During the post-lunch downtime I tucked away into a little corner on the sun deck to do some writing and also to chat with my new yacht friends. Adam, friend of Audra whose the daughter of Linda, is a veterinarian and I let him know that we had the dumbest lab on the planet. A large part of the work Adam does is gastric work and he said about half of his cases are labs because those idiots will eat anything. Considering Mako may still have a squeaker in his belly this rang true. I also talked dogs with Mar(K). K has a yellow lab, Leo and is as clearly obsessed with Leo as B is with our Mako. K’s wife, Amy, rolled her eyes as we shared doggy pictures and he went on about how amazing his Leo is and how he missed him. Unlike us, they have a smart lab.

After a rest on the yacht it was time go grab our snorkel gear bags and climb back onto a panga for a wet landing at Darwin’s Bay, on the opposite side of the submerged crater from Prince Philip’s steps. Lazy sea lions opened one eye and gazed at us as we strode onto their beach. Camilo pointed out a little hermit crab crawling between the rocks. A baby sea lion came out of the water, calling for its mama. She responded and it went running to her, as fast as its little flippers could go, to nurse. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more tender moment in nature in my life. Mama rolled back and forth, stroking her baby with her flippers while baby had it’s lunch. I could hear the baby suckling with enthusiasm. Another sea lion seemed jealous of the attention and rolled around seemingly trying to to annoy the nursing mama and put on a show for us. As we watched this tender demonstration, Andreas provided more facts about sea lions. Did you know that they will actually eat rocks to make themselves heavier so they can dive deeper into the water? Swallow tailed gulls hopped around and flew overhead as mama tended to her sweet baby. These gulls are most active and search out their meals after dark.

My water sandals had filled with rocks and coral from our wet landing. Greg, the hobby photographer with a massive cannon d850 or something like that camera, had a quiet but sweet-seeming wife (whose name I never got; they were one of two couples already on the yacht, continuing on from a previous island tour when we got on yesterday) and she reached to steady me as I balanced precariously while trying to clear my sandals. She never spoke a word, I’m not even sure she spoke any english, but I appreciated the kinship she provided in that moment.

Andreas finally pulled away from the nursing sea lion and led us down a coral path. There was no coral in the water here though and before any of us could ask, he explained. Due to temperature instability and climate change the coral in the water in this area has all died over time and washed up onto shore with the high tide. Eventually this coral will break down and overtime create a soft sandy beach.

Frigates lounged in the shrubby trees, one male putting on a show trying to pickup on the ladies. Boobies and gulls nested on the ground. A juvenile swallow tailed gull hopped around inquisitively. It’s so fascinating how the animals in the Galápagoss are so protected and the islands so tightly regulated (thank you national parks!) that they do not have a natural fear of humans. Looking at the fuzzy down on the little gull I asked Andreas the Spanish word for “fuzzy.” Apparently it’s not a word that translates well and he settled on “suavacito.”

Graffiti covered portions of the cliff side and Andreas explained that sailors, buccaneers, and pirates would mark the islands with the name of their vessel and the year they visited. This practice was prohibited once the islands were declared a National Park in 1959. Bright and fragile yellow cactus flowers popped from prickly pears. Cactus pears always remind me of my dad and how he used to pick them from a large cactus in our front yard when I was a young child. As I took a picture of one, Andrea (not to be confused with our guide Andrea, or her husband Andreas) asked if I’d like a picture of me with the cactus. Why not? I handed her my phone and young Camilo wanted to be the photographer, taking his time to compose a frame that he found satisfying. Getting to spend more time with their family throughout the day I was really enjoying them all; both Camilo and Sofia were both so respectful and inquisitive.

After the brief tour of Darwin’s beach, it was snorkel time! Supposedly the water here shouldn’t be quite as cold as this morning so I opted to only wear my wetsuit jacket I head brought with me as opposed to the actual wet suit from the yacht. This worked out quite well since Linda had forgotten hers so she was able to wear mine and not miss out on the action! B had been skeptical that I’d actually use this gear so I made sure to get a picture in my jacket!

I bought a new 360° camera for this trip and I’m pretty frustrating with the learning curve. It was too dark when I used in on Tintoreas and too light this morning. Trying fo figure out how to set the exposure and other options for good underwater photos and video has been quite a challenge so bear with me that my footage looks terrible!

After having my fill of snorkeling I put away my gear and light snorkel life jacket and went out to test the waters, more accurately to test myself in the water. I am not a strong swimmer. I am a very weak swimmer and lack confidence in the water. When we were in the Philippines I had actually swam and snorkeled life jacket free off Apulit Island, because I knew B was right there and I was able to wade in from the shallows. This was a great area to test my ability again as the water was deep enough but I could still touch and the bay was relatively still. And I did it! I waded out to a good depth and actually swam life-vest free, all on my own! I don’t know that I’m confident enough at this point to snorkel out much further or into deeper waters (even though in the Philippines I had ended up over pretty deep water) but I was proud of myself for not drowning.

Baby sea lion was still on the sand with its mama. Alternating between nursing while she stroked his back and snuggling up tight against her. I was so sad when the guides said it was time to go and I had to leave this nurturing display.

Warmed up and dry back on the yacht, I wanted to walk to the bow of the boat to take in the surrounding island and reflect on the day. Turning from my room, I found the door of the wheelhouse open and asked if I could peek inside. Chef Michael, Captain Manuel, and one of the crew were chatting. They invited me in and offered to take pictures of me; letting me know that I was welcome to come back when the boat was in motion tomorrow to see how everything works and try my hand at steering.

My iPad and I tucked into what was becoming my little corner on the jacuzzi deck. I just wanted to sit and write. I really needed some quiet time. I didn’t mind being in the presence of others but but I needed a break from interacting. Spending so much time with others is exhausting for my introverted empathic soul. I had a few minutes to recharge and then quickly ended up back in conversation with my new friends. Yes, I could have tucked into my room but I wanted to enjoy the outside and a few minutes was enough to catch my breath and be ready to interact again.

Before dinner, an announcement was made to meet in the salon for tomorrow’s briefing. Tomorrow will be quite a full day. In the morning we will take all our snorkel gear with us to visit Rabida where we will have a wet landing before a hike and a snorkel. Rabida was the island I had been most excited to visit due to the unusual red sand beach. In fact, the entire island was red. I had specifically searched out a cruise itinerary that included Rabida because it seemed so unique. In the afternoon, we will visit Bartolome Island where we will have a wet landing and snorkeling. Then we will go back to the yacht to dry off and change. Then back to Bartolome for a hike to the lookout. The hike will consist of 370 steps along the wooden plank trail. “We need to burn our calories. I know we need to because we eat a lot,” Billy explained. After the hike we will take a panga ride along the shore line to safari for more marine life sightings.

Tonight’s dinner was a luscious and extravagant bbq on the top deck. Chef Michael had grilled a ridiculous amount of meat including housemade pork and blood sausages, steak, chicken, pork chops, and prawns. Served alongside salad, asparagus, and potatoes; with tres leches cake for dessert. The tables were set with ramekins of queso and chimichurri sauces. Except for the pork chops I tried at least a little bit of everything and it was almost all divine. The only protein I didn’t like were the prawns, they seemed undercooked and the texture off. The chimichurri sauce was one of the best I’ve ever had. The pork sausage was definitely the best sausage I’ve ever had. I don’t even know that blood sausage is but I know that I liked it, except it was a bit salty for my taste.

Immediately upon the conclusion of dinner I could hear the chain lifting the anchor and we were off for our overnight trek to Rabida. It was well after dark and as the boat moved on gulls flew alongside. After dinner I spent some time digesting and writing in my little corner before chatting in the company of friends and now here I am; tucked into my bed by 9:15pm. I haven’t had great sleep yet this trip and I am exhausted.