Hammerheads, Hammerheads, Here We Go

Day nine, which was the day that Scott engaged his man boobs and left us in his wake during the kayak race. We arrived a bit later to Genovesa Island than planned due to rough seas, but luckily didn’t miss any activities. The frigate birds had their pouches inflated and were making their Pac-Man-like mating calls when we landed, and the red-footed boobies were nesting in the trees along the trail. The birds here are particularly fearless, including one frigate bird which flew in and then began exploring Audrey’s head for nesting materials. The snorkel that followed was a long one, and while the hammerheads disappointed JB stepped up to the plate and swam halfway around the island.

Following lunch and a short siesta the much built-up kayak race took off, and after ten minutes of fierce paddling Scott and Gene pulled off the upset by touching the anchor chain three seconds in front of Aaron and I. My arms were shaking for two hours afterwards, and while I didn’t empty my stomach again there were a few tense moments. Aaron fumed over the loss and refused to come ashore, and had to read several chapters from Bruce Lee’s Guide to Daily Living to try to calm his rage; the boy doesn’t like to lose.

The last landing of the day was to enjoy another colony of the island’s birds, including a newly-arrived group of waved albatrosses. The albatross had never been recorded nesting on this island, but given a tip from a morning group we found two eggs, meaning that a new colony may be forming. The owls were more elusive, and despite the offer of a bottle of wine for the first sighting they remained hidden. The entire landing lasted for about three hours, after which we came back to the boat for yet another adventure – everyone donned their wetsuit yet again for a night snorkel. With Aaron and Scott repeatedly reminding us of what a good idea it was to jump into shark-infested water in the dark we saw a turtle, some rays, and two moray eels amongst many creatures captured by our lights. The seas are rough again for tonight’s voyage to Rabida Island and the last full day of the trip.