Day Three.

1-1-12 SHORT HILLS: We have washed up, rested, and are beginning to feel human again. We stayed home, had king crab legs, drizzled onions, peach melba and a carbonated beverage. Judy made the food, I opened the bottle. We were both asleep by 10:30. Here is the next day of the trip.

CHRISTMAS DAY, 2011 ISLA GENOVESA, GALAPAGOS: After an Ecuadoran Xmas Eve dinner, last night, turkey, and a cake for dessert labeled, ‘Feliz Navidad’, we motored on to Genovesa, arriving at dawn. It is an older volcanic crater, blown out on one side to leave a big-horseshoe shaped island. It has cliffs on the inside and outside and circumferential fissures and clefts, markers of the, now extinct, volcanic activity.

It is home to the red footed booby, on their nests in the shrubby trees. The Nazca booby, that used to be named the masked booby, is in mating mode, a pair clack their beaks together to seal the deal, if the female is happy with the twigs offered by the male as the beginning of their nest. They nest on the ground. We also saw the Galagagos owl, which is diurnal, lava gulls, herons, petrels, shearwaters, red-billed tropic birds, lava gulls, mockingbirds, finches, including the vampire finch. The outer cliff faces in the prevailing wind and serves as a flight school for all the new birds, trying out their wings as parts of huge swarms. We watched one booby make a short, low flight and a rocky landing.

On the way back to the boat in the zodiacs, we saw fur seals and some new birds and a sea turtle. We snorkeled after the walk, with good fish and warm, fairly clear water, then lunched, and then did another walk and some more snorkeling.

This walk was around a white sandy beach with remnants of coral indicating that the island had been uplifted. There were more birds, including new gull chicks, and a booby egg. We also saw albino boobies a variant of the red-footed boobies, not true albinos. The snorkelers saw fish and swimming sea lions.

We left in late afternoon for San Cristobal heading into strong winds and fairly heavy seas. Much Dramamine was consumed. All the sea trips have had rocking and rolling.


Nazca booby, used to be the masked booby. They nest on the ground. The other boobies nest in trees or shrubs.

Red footed booby manages to look like a cartoon bird.

Goofiest booby.

Albino booby is not a true albino, but a variant of the red footed booby, and interbreeds with the more numerous brown colored red foot.

The flight school for immatures of all species. The cliff is on the outer side of the island with south wind blowing in from the sea.

Galapagos short eared owl on the edge of a lava fissure.

Nazca boobies building a nest.

A young male fur seal, on the left, challenging the alpha. From the look of his neck he has been in a few fights. He was driven off this time.

Snorkeling, tons of fish, clarity fair to good, little coral, rocks aplenty.

Lava gulls.

Sea lion siesta.

Swallow tail gulls with baby.

That bright 'star' is Venus.