Floreana Island
We started the day off on a Zodiac headed toward Floreana Island seeing sea turtles and sea lions along the way. We had all written postcards to family and friends to put in the famous Post Office Barrel. We used the old whalers’ tradition to send messages, which is dropping them in a barrel and searching for another message that was meant for someone who lived near you. After everyone was finished sorting and sending, we loaded onto the Zodiac for a short cruise to see a nearby sea lion colony. We found about seven playful pups and two protective adults surrounding the boat. Also we saw tons of them resting on the shore soaking up as much sun as possible. There were also several different types of cacti towering up on the tallest rocks and coves. Blue-footed boobies, blue herons chasing crabs, and the Galápagos egrets shared the rocks in the coves and mangroves. I think we all thought that it was worth getting up at six a.m. to see and experience all of this.
Author: Morgan E., Everyday Explorer (sea lions)
We went snorkeling twice today; this morning off Champion Island, and this afternoon at Punta Cormorant. All of us slid from the Zodiacs into the oddly cold water. At first we had to get used to the cold water, but we all managed to come through! In the water, all that we saw at first were rocks and sand. Then a purple-eyed fish went zooming under us; it almost felt hypnotic the way its purple eyes stared at us and how it gently slithered through the freezing water. Every one kind of floated away from the hypnotic fish when suddenly one of the kids started trying to yell (which is pretty hard underwater!) and point at something. It was a brilliantly neon-blue sea star just lying motionless. We all gaped at the awe-inspiring invertebrate. Eventually we managed to pull away from the sea star, and a little sea lion went bolting past us twirling and flipping and jumping out of the water! Everyone started diving and playing with the speedy sea lion, but when someone got about two feet away, the sea lion would spin around and “fly” away. None of us could get any closer except for our leader, Carlos, who accidentally brushed up against the lightning-fast sea lion and almost dropped his camera! We saw other colorful fish and more sea stars and eventually made our way into the Zodiac moaning and groaning about having to leave.
Author: Max S., Everyday Explorer (penguin)
We took an incredible walk this afternoon. It featured flamingos and lots of other birds, including Bahama pintail ducks. It was amazing how the flamingos could keep their balance in the water standing on one leg. I learned that the color of the flamingos depends on what they eat. These flamingos were bright pink because they feed on brine shrimp. At one high point on the island we got to see a panorama of the island, which used to be two islands but became one after the volcano’s lava flow connected them. We ended up at a beach where we saw sea turtle nests. The water there was full of stingrays, so we couldn’t wade in the water. But we walked along the beach and saw a lot of crabs and a few birds. When we walked back, I lingered behind to stay by the flamingos as long as I could. I don’t know which was my favorite thing: seeing flamingos, having a sea lion pull on my snorkel mask during an earlier swim, or hearing other people’s stories about their encounters with animals. For example, Caitlin told us about how a sea lion hovered in front of her mask, staring at her for a long time.
Author: Mitchell R., Everyday Explorer (flamingo)
We started the day off on a Zodiac headed toward Floreana Island seeing sea turtles and sea lions along the way. We had all written postcards to family and friends to put in the famous Post Office Barrel. We used the old whalers’ tradition to send messages, which is dropping them in a barrel and searching for another message that was meant for someone who lived near you. After everyone was finished sorting and sending, we loaded onto the Zodiac for a short cruise to see a nearby sea lion colony. We found about seven playful pups and two protective adults surrounding the boat. Also we saw tons of them resting on the shore soaking up as much sun as possible. There were also several different types of cacti towering up on the tallest rocks and coves. Blue-footed boobies, blue herons chasing crabs, and the Galápagos egrets shared the rocks in the coves and mangroves. I think we all thought that it was worth getting up at six a.m. to see and experience all of this.
Author: Morgan E., Everyday Explorer (sea lions)
We went snorkeling twice today; this morning off Champion Island, and this afternoon at Punta Cormorant. All of us slid from the Zodiacs into the oddly cold water. At first we had to get used to the cold water, but we all managed to come through! In the water, all that we saw at first were rocks and sand. Then a purple-eyed fish went zooming under us; it almost felt hypnotic the way its purple eyes stared at us and how it gently slithered through the freezing water. Every one kind of floated away from the hypnotic fish when suddenly one of the kids started trying to yell (which is pretty hard underwater!) and point at something. It was a brilliantly neon-blue sea star just lying motionless. We all gaped at the awe-inspiring invertebrate. Eventually we managed to pull away from the sea star, and a little sea lion went bolting past us twirling and flipping and jumping out of the water! Everyone started diving and playing with the speedy sea lion, but when someone got about two feet away, the sea lion would spin around and “fly” away. None of us could get any closer except for our leader, Carlos, who accidentally brushed up against the lightning-fast sea lion and almost dropped his camera! We saw other colorful fish and more sea stars and eventually made our way into the Zodiac moaning and groaning about having to leave.
Author: Max S., Everyday Explorer (penguin)
We took an incredible walk this afternoon. It featured flamingos and lots of other birds, including Bahama pintail ducks. It was amazing how the flamingos could keep their balance in the water standing on one leg. I learned that the color of the flamingos depends on what they eat. These flamingos were bright pink because they feed on brine shrimp. At one high point on the island we got to see a panorama of the island, which used to be two islands but became one after the volcano’s lava flow connected them. We ended up at a beach where we saw sea turtle nests. The water there was full of stingrays, so we couldn’t wade in the water. But we walked along the beach and saw a lot of crabs and a few birds. When we walked back, I lingered behind to stay by the flamingos as long as I could. I don’t know which was my favorite thing: seeing flamingos, having a sea lion pull on my snorkel mask during an earlier swim, or hearing other people’s stories about their encounters with animals. For example, Caitlin told us about how a sea lion hovered in front of her mask, staring at her for a long time.
Author: Mitchell R., Everyday Explorer (flamingo)
