Day 7: June 26, 2007 Genovesa to Bartolome

  Bartolome, Ecuador
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Day 7: June 26, 2007 Genovesa to Bartolome

Bahía Darwin, Genovesa

Our routine is well established. I got up at 6:30 and had breakfast at 7:00. We were anchored in Darwin Bay which is a flooded caldera that appears to be 2-3 km across. The caldera wall rises less than 20 m above the bay most of the way around but sinks beneath the surface at the entrance which is about 1 km across on the south side.

Panga near Prince Phillip's Steps

Our first event of the day was to go to Prince Phillip's steps and walk up to the flat surface on the east side where we did a short hike.

Panga in Bahía Darwin

Nazca boobies and red-footed boobies were abundant as were great frigate birds. We walked over a weathered pahoehoe surface to a large crack in the lava flow that looks like it is ready to fall into the sea.

Loafing Sea Lion

Laura and Todd

Group Foto on Genovesa

Back at the boat we readied ourselves for a dive along the caldera wall under overcast skies. Only 8 of us went, including Deogenes, one of the crew members. The dive was amazing. The water was extremely clear and deep. Fish were abundant and

John Enz and Nazca Boobies

diverse along the cliff wall. I got a brief glimpse of a Galápagos sea lion but it declined to stay and play. We swam for about an hour admiring the beautiful fish, as we swam from Prince Philip's steps in a counter-clockwise direction.

Back to the Yacht

After lunch we had a wet landing on the other side of the caldera, seeing boobies, scissor-tailed storm petrels, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and sea lions. We returned to the beach where we landed in the same trail and put on our snorkeling gear. We swam along the sand-rock interface and saw a lot of fish, but not nearly the diversity of the morning's dive. For me, the highlight was a wall covered with sea urchins.

We had snacks and beers and then an excellent octopus paella for dinner. We weighed anchor just before 9:00 and started heading SW toward Bartolome. The sea was moderate which means we were rocking and rolling after dinner. Everyone headed for their Dramamine and bed. Not having any Dramamine, I was grateful to not feel sea sick. Rather than press my luck, I also retired and allowed the motion of the boat to lull me to sleep. I slept soundly until we dropped anchor between 1-2 AM. Then I fell back in a deep sleep.