Prince Phillip's steps leads to a narrow stretch of land that opens out onto the plateau overlooking Darwin Bay.  The trail leads through areas abundant in dry vegetation and dominated by the incense tree or palo santo (holy stick). This is also a popular nesting area for frigatebirds and red-footed boobies, who wrap their webbed feet around branches to perch in the bushes.  In contrast, their "Nazca booby" cousins congregate around the surface of the scrublands beyond. The trail eventually leads to a spectacular colony of seabirds, which truly is an "ornithologist's dream".

The sheltered pools that lie in the rocky outcrops of the volcano are the starting point to another trail, which leads up to a cliff overlooking the caldera (mouth). Swallow-tailed gulls, which are the only nocturnal gulls in the world, can be seen nesting in their pairs at the cliff's edge. Lava gulls and pintail ducks are often spotted riding the sea breezes nearby. Other likely bird encounters include the Galapagos dove, mockingbird and short-eared owl.

Photograph kindly provided by Anele Waters

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