Our afternoon excursion takes us to a white sandy beach along Darwin Bay, where our surroundings are very different to that of the morning. Here, we find brilliantly green mangroves, small lagoons and rocky walls that look like masonry covered by lazy cacti.
| The prickly pear cacti of Genovesa provides an example of the evolutionary process that makes these islands famous. Because the lack of any predators like the giant tortoise, the cacti can grow as it pleases. This cacti grows with branches close to the ground, and soft needles that feel like coarse hair to the touch, unlike its tortoise ravaged cousins on other islands that have long trunks and spear like needles. |
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Greater frigates sit on top of the palo santo trees with their young, attempting to beat the afternoon soon. Some stretch out their wings, increasing their surface area to the wind. The young chicks sit and pant, like a hyperactive chihuahua. Red-footed boobies are spotted in the mangroves. One flies above us with food in its beak and it's instantly swarmed by frigates that pester it, trying to steal the food away midair. A yellow-crowned night heron stands by a small lagoon where sea lions play nearby.
 Male greater frigate with a chick |
 Panting greater frigate chick |
 Mating swallow-tailed gulls |
 Preening swallow-tailed gull with a chick |
 Yellow-crowned night heron |
 Young red-footed booby in a Mangrove. Note the non-red feet. |
 Red-footed booby with masked booby-like coloration. |
 Red-footed booby dripping salt from its nostrils |
 The lava gull is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, and is one of the rarest gulls, with only about 400 nesting pairs in the world.
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 Darwin finch (sharp-beaked ground finch) |
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After our hike around the area, it's back into our fins for more snorkelling! It didn't seem like we'd see much being so close to the beach, but as I criscrossed the area, my eye caught a familiar shape in the water: shark! I froze in place, as my brain registered that beside me were four white-tipped reef sharks, each about four feet long. I scrambled for the camera, as they glided off, and then tried to give chase, when suddenly I bump into Trisha. I graciously coralled them towards her so she got a good look. Our resident fish, Donna, calls us over to look at the spotted eagle ray that darts off but not until we all saw him. Closer to shore, a couple of sea lions wrestle with each other, and then show off their porpoise in life by leaping out of the water in graceful arcs like dolphins. Eventually, we have to leave Genovesa, and the sea lions bark out a mournful cry as if they'll miss our company, or at least our attention.
