Galapagos 2009»Prince Philip Steps - Genovesa

After a longer than usual panga ride we arrived for a dry landing at the foot of Prince Philip Steps on Genovesa. There were already hundreds of frigate birds and boobies to be seen flying around before we had even stepped foot on the island. By the time we reached the top of the steps we were literally surrounded by birds both on the ground and overhead. There were male frigate birds proudly displaying their inflated red pouches, nascar boobies on their nests and red footed boobies with their amazing brightly coloured beaks. The terrain was very flat and parched, with just a few cacti and ground dwelling plants dispersed intermittently. Again the birds were unperturbed by our presence and we could get really close. When we reached the shoreline on the other side of the island the panorama was amazing, the edge of the rocks looked out to sea and flying over the edge of the rocks were thousands of birds, mainly storm petrels. There were so may of them they resembled a swarm of locusts. These birds are the main prey for the ground dwelling owls that live in the rock crevices, although we did not see any of these owls. Boobies and frigate birds could also be seen on the ground and flying overhead. We saw more birds on Genovesa than any of the other islands we had visited and it was well worth the longer boat journey to reach the island. We sat on the rock and lingered for a while before reluctantly returning to our boat. Another unforgettable and amazing experience!