Day 2 - Genovasa Island

In re-reading my Lonely Planet this morning, its easy to get excited with what we are supposed to see and do here on Galapagos... " a wildlife experience of a lifetime. " From the landscapes of the many islands on our itinerary, which have evolved their barren, volcanic earth in many different, and equally beautiful ways, to the fact that we will most probably swim with sea lions, float eye to eye with penguins (fngers crossed as they are hard to find!), stand next to a blue footed booby feeding its young (more on them soon!), watch a giant 150 yr old tortoise eye you up as he chews the fat with his pals (or in this case some tasty looking grass..) and of course try to avoid the iguanas, both the marine and land types, that scurry all over the landscape as you pass them by. Apparantly most of the animal species on the islands are found nowhere else in the world... so it truly is a trip of a lifetime! One historical note cos its a big one - Charles Darwin, Galapagos`s most famous visitor came here in 1835 to study the wildlife. His observations on the islands eventually led him to his theory of evolution! Quite impressive eh! With all that said, what more could we ask for? Would we indeed see all of the above... stay tuned for more!

So - the routine on the Tip Top Tres! Each day starts with a morning excursion.. today was on the island of Genovesa. We started with Prince Philips Step - apparantly some connection to the "real" Prince Philip from home but who really cares about that. We saw three kinds of "boobies" here..no jokes please, this is serious ornothology! There are blue footed boobies (my favorite), masked and red footed boobies (the red ones are only found on a few of the Galapagos islands, including Genovesa!). Check out the little baby masked booby below - so fluffy and cute...
The landscape is wild; sylph-like silver trees that appear burnt by the scorching sun, the ground barren, yet tons of amazing birds make their home here.. its definitely something from another land e.g. storm petrals, frigate birds, lotsa lotsa boobies, owls, iguanas and sea lions all co-exist in harmony..
Ahh the seal lions..there are soooo many of them all over the Galapagos, from tons of mums with brand new babies, looking so incredibly cuddly, to the big bull dads, who dont like you getting too close and like to assert their authority now and then (and love to talk!) it is truly amazing how they are so comfortable with you walking past and around them without any problems .

Back to the boat for lunch then onto another part of the island - Darwin Bay Beach for the afternoon.. loads more birds, and snorkel time here. You gotta love the ole´ routine...

Very rough seas tonight..Carolynn, Paul and I decided to play charades on the outside deck but kept getting waylaid as the boat lurched so strongly from side to side- taking us with it! Loved it, but some folks not quite so happy...hope for calmer seas tomorrow.