For the last two days of the trip, I had been secretly happy that I was not the one who had gotten a stomach bug. I was able to enjoy completely the fantastic meals that our chef had been preparing. The universe saw fit to pay me back and I spent the night curled up with the most intense stomach cramps I have ever experienced. With the help of Immodium (amazing stuff), I was able to go ashore for our morning walk on Genovesa, also known as Tower Island. Genovesa is a crater with one side open, so it forms a bay that is about ¾ of a circle.
The key attraction here are the birds, and we finally got to see the Red Footed Booby. Unlike the Blue Footed or Nazca, they build nests in trees, especially the mangroves here.
I was still recovering so I passed on the snorkeling today. However, after lunch we went for another walk. This time, just 4 of us went ashore and we were the only people on the entire island. We were outnumbered by thousands of Red Footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, Red-billed tropic birds, Swallow-tailed gulls, and Great Frigate birds.
Frigate birds are really the pirates of the bird world. We watched as they would follow a booby or gull who had caught a fish. The frigates swoop down on the bird in flight and shake/bump/harass them until they cough up the fish. The frigate bird will catch it in mid air and take off to look for another victim. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but they are very good at it.
When we returned to the boat for dinner, we found that the chef had made us a turkey for Thanksgiving, complete with all sorts of vegetables and side dishes. For me, dinner was just chicken soup, but everyone else seemed to enjoy the holiday celebration. We were all definitely thankful for the afternoon alone with the birds.
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