Genovesa

GENOVESA (TOWER)

A distant sail away from the central islands, at the north-eastern edge of the archipelago, lies Genovesa, a small island (10.5 km²) in the shape of a horseshoe - the interior bay is an old imploded volcano. One of the most pristine of the Galapagos group, it is the remote refuge of many thousands of oceanic birds. Genovesa, as a result of its isolation, remains an undisturbed nesting ground for these birds, who fish in its rich waters, and lacks introduced as well as native land animals and reptiles-the only reptile, in fact, is a small subspecies of marine iguana.

A wet landing on Darwin Bay beach starts your tour with colonies of Frigates, Red Footed and Masked Boobies. Just behind the beach, you can see inland tide pools and outcrops of black rock and salt bushes, frequented by feeding Wandering Tattlers, Turnstones, Whimbrels, Lava Gulls and Fiddler Crabs.

Genovesa is home to what is probably the largest collection of red-footed boobies (up to140,000 pairs), who nest in the grey polo santo trees dotting the cliffs. Over- head, cries-crossing the slay, are gleaming white swallow-tailed gulls, silently gliding frigatebirds, and the hosts of red-billed tropic birds and black and white Audubon shearwaters that occupy the deep openings in the mountainous lava formations.

The southeastern cliffs are alive with one of the island's largest colonies of wedge romped petrels (up to 200,000 pairs), tiny, nocturnal birds that share the small point of land with their daylight-loving relatives, the delicate band-trumped petrels. Toward the interior of the island, which is covered with stocky, low-growing prickly pear and is generally arid, four species of Darwin's finches can be found, and the Galapagos dove can be seen bobbing along under bushes and over the lava, looking for seeds.

GENOVESA ISLAND

GENOVESA (TOWER) A distant sail away from the central islands, at the north-eastern edge of the archipelago, lies Genovesa, a small island (10.5 km²) in the shape of a horseshoe - the interior bay is an old imploded volcano. One of the most pristine of the Galapagos group, it is the remote refuge of many thousands of oceanic birds. Genovesa, as a result of its isolation, remains an undisturbed nesting ground for these birds, who fish in its rich waters, and lacks introduced as well as native land animals and reptiles-the only reptile, in fact, is a small subspecies of marine iguana. A wet landing on Darwin Bay beach starts your tour with colonies of Frigates, Red Footed and Masked Boobies. Just behind the beach, you can see inland tide pools and outcrops of black rock and salt bushes, frequented by feeding Wandering Tattlers, Turnstones, Whimbrels, Lava Gulls and Fiddler Crabs. Genovesa is home to what is probably the largest collection of red-footed boobies (up to140,000 pairs), who nest in the grey polo santo trees dotting the cliffs. Over- head, cries-crossing the slay, are gleaming white swallow-tailed gulls, silently gliding frigatebirds, and the hosts of red-billed tropic birds and black and white Audubon shearwaters that occupy the deep openings in the mountainous lava formations. The southeastern cliffs are alive with one of the island's largest colonies of wedge romped petrels (up to 200,000 pairs), tiny, nocturnal birds that share the small point of land with their daylight-loving relatives, the delicate band-trumped petrels. Toward the interior of the island, which is covered with stocky, low-growing prickly pear and is generally arid, four species of Darwin's finches can be found, and the Galapagos dove can be seen bobbing along under bushes and over the lava, looking for seeds.