Floreana Island
Whenever we see the silhouette of those mountains (a chain of volcanic cones covered by clouds), we know that something enigmatic surrounds the island. This is a place which is full of mysteries. At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth, so many people had vanished and so many events took place here which do not have any answers; the only way of having a vivid memory is to go to the island it self and see what is there.
Our visit began at 6:30 in the morning to one of the oldest mailing systems in South America (post office bay). This is a place where we can mail some postcards or letters with out any stamps. The functionality of this system is so good that in most of the cases it works better than the regular post office in my home town. After a short visit to the barrel, we continued our activities with a Zodiac ride along the shoreline of a little islet call “La Loberia.” Among the highlights, I should mention the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia megasperma) with such beautiful flowers. As the scientific name implies, it has the biggest blossom of the archipelago. During breakfast, our captain repositioned the ship to another anchorage site called Champion. Here we have had one of the most astonishing snorkeling outings. The number and abundance of fish species were so incredible, it turned out to be the best experience of the marine world of the Galápagos during this week. A Moorish idol was caught in profile by photograph.
After lunch, we had several options; snorkeling/hiking, kayaking/hiking, longer siesta/hiking. The hike at Point Cormorant had as a main attraction one of the most ridiculous birds that we can see in flight and at the same time one of the most colorful and majestic species that we observed in a lagoon; pink flamingoes. Besides the great number of plants species and contrast of colors in terms of a landscape, the colors that got recorded in the retinas of our eyes were the pinkish colors of the most colorful species of flamingos that we can find in natural habitats.
Whenever we see the silhouette of those mountains (a chain of volcanic cones covered by clouds), we know that something enigmatic surrounds the island. This is a place which is full of mysteries. At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth, so many people had vanished and so many events took place here which do not have any answers; the only way of having a vivid memory is to go to the island it self and see what is there.
Our visit began at 6:30 in the morning to one of the oldest mailing systems in South America (post office bay). This is a place where we can mail some postcards or letters with out any stamps. The functionality of this system is so good that in most of the cases it works better than the regular post office in my home town. After a short visit to the barrel, we continued our activities with a Zodiac ride along the shoreline of a little islet call “La Loberia.” Among the highlights, I should mention the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia megasperma) with such beautiful flowers. As the scientific name implies, it has the biggest blossom of the archipelago. During breakfast, our captain repositioned the ship to another anchorage site called Champion. Here we have had one of the most astonishing snorkeling outings. The number and abundance of fish species were so incredible, it turned out to be the best experience of the marine world of the Galápagos during this week. A Moorish idol was caught in profile by photograph.
After lunch, we had several options; snorkeling/hiking, kayaking/hiking, longer siesta/hiking. The hike at Point Cormorant had as a main attraction one of the most ridiculous birds that we can see in flight and at the same time one of the most colorful and majestic species that we observed in a lagoon; pink flamingoes. Besides the great number of plants species and contrast of colors in terms of a landscape, the colors that got recorded in the retinas of our eyes were the pinkish colors of the most colorful species of flamingos that we can find in natural habitats.
