Floreana Island
Another marvelous early morning outing. This time, we disembarked at Post Office Bay on Floreana Island. There, we found the very first mailing system in Ecuador (established back in the late 1700s while Ecuador was still a colony of Spain) and one of the first in the South Pacific.
The Post Office Barrel on Floreana Island was placed by Captain James Colnet in 1793. This mailing system has been used by buccaneers, pirates, whalers, fur sealers, and early colonizers for well over three centuries now. We had a lot of fun going through the mail left there by other people, and of course, we took some of the post cards to hand deliver them! This method of communication has worked for a long time now, and as embarrassing as it sounds, we think that it is the fastest mailing system in Ecuador!
Once back on board, we had a delicious and empowering breakfast to continue with our day full of energetic activities. We had a great snorkeling outing at Champion and immediately afterwards, a Zodiac ride to search for the allusive Floreana Mocking Bird and some other sea birds like the pelican in the picture. After lunch (and for some of us a short siesta), we headed for another round of kayaking at a near by bay. Snorkeling around Devil’s Crown was also an option that we combined with a nice hike to observe Flamingoes on a beautiful pinkish lagoon. What a full, but beautiful day!
Another marvelous early morning outing. This time, we disembarked at Post Office Bay on Floreana Island. There, we found the very first mailing system in Ecuador (established back in the late 1700s while Ecuador was still a colony of Spain) and one of the first in the South Pacific.
The Post Office Barrel on Floreana Island was placed by Captain James Colnet in 1793. This mailing system has been used by buccaneers, pirates, whalers, fur sealers, and early colonizers for well over three centuries now. We had a lot of fun going through the mail left there by other people, and of course, we took some of the post cards to hand deliver them! This method of communication has worked for a long time now, and as embarrassing as it sounds, we think that it is the fastest mailing system in Ecuador!
Once back on board, we had a delicious and empowering breakfast to continue with our day full of energetic activities. We had a great snorkeling outing at Champion and immediately afterwards, a Zodiac ride to search for the allusive Floreana Mocking Bird and some other sea birds like the pelican in the picture. After lunch (and for some of us a short siesta), we headed for another round of kayaking at a near by bay. Snorkeling around Devil’s Crown was also an option that we combined with a nice hike to observe Flamingoes on a beautiful pinkish lagoon. What a full, but beautiful day!
