In order to enjoy South Plaza island the fullest, you need to arrive before the tourists arrive. That means early in the morning greeted by the sea lion colony on the coast and with a lovely sunrise.

The night however from Genovesa Island Galapagos to South Plaza in our little Galapagos cruise was tough: we needed to take 2 and a half tablet of Primatour in order not to get too seasick. But all that was well worth the early arrival: a beautiful sunrise, sea lions, land iguanas and even another blue footed booby.

South Plaza island is famous for it’s typical vegetation: pear cactus trees make the "opuntia cactus forests" and "sesuvium" grows at ground level. It’s red from  June till January and green during the rainy season. Sesuvium is the main nourishment for the large colony of "grazing" land iguanas on South Plaza Island.

A little bit of snorkeling with the awesome sea lions and off we went towards close by Isla Santa Cruz.

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If you love birds, then make sure to include Genovesa in your Galapagos island cruise.

Why would you put yourself through a night sailing in roughs and getting sea sick like me?

Because from all the islands in your Galapagos cruise, Genovesa is the ideal place to watching countless beautiful birds you wont see anywhere else.

We were lucky our guide spotted a short eared Galapagos owl, which as you can see on the picture blends in perfectly with the Galapagos environment.

Walking from Prince Philip’s Steps towards the black cliffs, it’s cute to see pairs of birds nesting, utterly protected inside the cliffs.

This red-footed booby is the smallest booby in Galapagos and the only one that nests in trees.

Other birds you will surely see without needing binoculars are pigeons, herons, sea-gulls and the above red footed boobies, while frigatebirds fly endlessly searching for food.

If you do love birds and you don’t mind to get seasick (or make sure to bring anti-seasick pills, which I unfortunately forgot…), then make sure to include Genovesa in your Galapagos islands cruise.

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Once you are having your Galapagos Island vacation, you cannot look next to the Galapagos turtles: the turtles on the Galapagos Islands are the biggest turtles in the world!

Galapagos Islands tours

If you opt for visiting the different Galapagos Islands on a tour, then make sure to use your eyes like Darwin did: have a look how these turtles look different on each Galapagos island, being adapted to the specific vegetation and life conditions of each specific Galapagos Island.

Read more at: Galapagos Turtles

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