After a long overnight sea crossing from Isabela which became increasingly bumpy we arrived off the island of Genovesa just after dawn. The anchorage at Genovesa is in a submerged volcano crater which gives shelter from the rough seas outside.
In the morning we took the zodiac across the bay below the lava cliffs to a steep stairway called the Prince Philip Steps. The steps gave access to the flat top of the island and the amazing sight of hundreds of nesting Red-footed Boobies and Nazca Boobies. The Red-footed nest in trees whilst the Nazcas nest on the ground. Here we also picked up the last two finches which we needed to complete our set of Darwin's Finches. The only disappointment here was that the hoped for Galapagos Short-eared Owl did not show up - it is normally a regular amongst the petrel colony.
After another cold water snorkeling session along the base of the cliffs we spent the afternoon until sunset at Darwin Bay. This gave us more great views of Red-footed Boobies, Swallow-tailed Gulls and Yellow-crowned Night Herons. As the name suggests, the Night Herons are nocturnal and more and more of them emerged from the mangrove thickets as the sun went down.