Our first full day in the islands started at a glorious and perky 6:00am and we very quickly got back into the groove of life on the Samba. Today we found ourselves on the island of Genovesa, one of the islands located in the far north part of the archipelago.

Our first stop on Genovesa was Bahia de Darwin (Darwin Bay), which will garner the nickname of “Bird Island” by the folks within our group for reasons that will become obvious in a minute. After a wet landing onto the shore of the island, we were immediately greeted with a striking sight: a wall of graffiti dotting the small cliffs, overgrown with thriving prickly pear cactus.

The graffiti originated from sailors and mariners that arrived on this islands between the early to mid 1900s and would often paint the name of their vessel along with the year they landed on the faces of these small cliffs to show their colleagues that they were here. This was more or less the 20th century equivalent of replying “first” on an internet comment thread or a five year old reaching a destination ahead of their school group and obnoxiously singing an improvised version of “na na na na boo boo.” Once the Galapagos became part of Ecuador and the national park was developed, they embedded plaques into these cliff faces (and other sites across all the other islands) indicating that these islands were protected and any physical or ecological damage would no longer be tolerated, thus ending this juvenile practice.

As we journeyed inward, the inhabitants of the island became very pronounced. Nearly every type of flighted bird that inhabits the Galapagos was present here, rousting in mangroves, nesting on the ground or simply foraging for today’s breakfast including the notorious varieties of boobies. In fact, Genovesa island is the only spot in the archipelago where one can find all three species of booby (red footed, blue footed and Nazca) all in the same place. We were fortunate enough to not only see these species of booby but also witness the mating ritual of the native frigate birds, with their red pouches inflated, in order to attract a female.

It’s incredible how there can be distinct personalities in the animals we come across. One would not expect that the native wildlife can be sassy but as we were leaving Darwin Bay, I had an encounter with a sea lion that Lauren was able to document in between her thunderous laughter, that exemplifies this to a tee. May I present to you, my loyal and good looking readers, my experience with a sassy sea lion, a tragedy in three parts:

Upon departing Darwin Bay, we returned to the Samba to eat breakfast and to receive our snorkeling gear for our first outing below the waves. After a short zodiac ride to our destination, we were in the water and throughout the course of the snorkel, were able to come upon a few Moorish Idols, a lurking hammerhead shark and an incredible school of Eagle Rays.

Our first day ended with one final hike to El Barranco (The Ravine, also known as Prince Phillip’s Steps) where we were on the lookout for the Short Eared Owl. These creatures typically live in small crevices on this island in the hope to find storm petrels to munch on. After about an hour, we happened to come across one sitting on a branch within a large crack of the hardened lava field.

As the sun set and the dinner settled, our group reveled on an incredible first full day in the archipelago. Harry conducting his nightly briefing and before we knew it, we were en route to the island of Marchena for another early rise and anxious with anticipation of what rousing adventures the next day will bring.

Featured Image: The sun rises among the clouds upon landing on Genovesa