Genovesa
Genovesa is located in the northeastern extreme of the archipelago,
and since it lies within the Northern Hemisphere, a visit to Genovesa
warrants crossing the equatorial line with all of the associated
ceremonious fanfare. It is a large island, covering 14km2, with two
visitor sites, both of which are amazing sites for bird enthusiasts. The
island of Genovesa attracts enormous colonies of land and sea birds,
most notably the red-footed booby, which is found on only two islands in
the entire archipelago.
During the dinghy ride from the cruise ship along the island's cliff
facade to the first visitor site, Prince Philip's Steps , passengers can
witness red-billed tropicbirds, frigatebirds, swallow-tailed gulls, and
boobies flying, fishing, and nesting in cracks in the cliff. Visitors
land at the base of Prince Philip's Steps—a steep, rocky staircase up
the 25-meter high cliff face—and continue their avian exploration along
a 1-km trail through the island's Palo Santo forest, where red-footed
boobies can often be seen nesting. Further along the trail, there is an
expanse of lava where short-eared owls, Galápagos swallows, Galápagos
doves, and storm petrels are visible.
The second visitor site, Darwin Bay , has a white-sand beach aligned
with mangrove patches and the resident coastal land birds, Nazca
boobies, red-footed boobies, and swallow-tailed gulls. Further along the
trail are beautiful turquoise tide pools with the occasional misfit sea
lion.
Because of the steep underwater terrain of Genovesa, snorkeling and
scuba-diving can be exciting and unique from other sites in the
archipelago. Snorklers that like to dive and can hold their breath for
extended periods of time may see interesting bottom-dwellers, tropical
fish found only in the northern archipelago, or even a hammerhead shark.
The wildlife you will see on your Galapagos tour are completely
unaffected by Galapagos travel visitors . For this reason, there is a
restricted number of visitors permitted into the Galapagos each year, as
part of a joint effort to protect the delicate environmental and ecological
equilibrium. The most sensible method of Galapagos travel is via our cruise
ships. The M/V Galapagos Legend provides 3 night, 4 night and 7 night
cruises to select from, which can also be easily merged with Galapagos
travel visits to neighboring South American locations