Floreana Island
We arrived to Floreana Island after navigating all night long from Isabela Island. We disembarked early to explore Post Office Bay which is located on the northern coast of Floreana. In the 1800’s this was one of the most popular places for pirates, privateers, and whalers because it had a good anchorage, a fresh water spring in the highlands and plenty of Galápagos giant tortoises. In the late 1700’s the English captain James Colnett wrote about a wooden barrel where sailors could leave their letters and pick up those left there by previous ships. The mail was hand delivered later on by the ships going back home. This is how this very old mailing system began and still continues to function today. We went ashore, walked to the barrel, sorted through the stack of letters and found several to pick up, and we will hand deliver these to continue the ancient tradition.
After we left Post Office Bay we sailed towards Champion Islet and went swimming and snorkeling surrounded by large schools of fish of different kinds and of all colors. There are always large schools of fish on the east side of Champion because the marine currents that push up against the island bring a lot of phyto and zooplankton, making this a very rich and productive marine area. This islet is well known, not only for its wonderful marine life, but as the home of a small remaining population of Floreana mockingbirds. The mockingbirds are extinct on the main island because feral cats have hunted them and introduced cattle depleted their main source of food and protection: the prickly pear cactus. Since this special variety of cactus can only be found on the satellite islets like Champion, and there are no cats here, the mockingbirds are still found here too. From the panga we searched for the Floreana mockingbirds - and found several of these elusive birds - along with swallow tailed gulls, noddy terns, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies and Galápagos shearwaters.
Once everyone returned to the ship we navigated to Punta Cormorant. Since the weather conditions were just perfect, some of our guests went kayaking along the shoreline where they found sea turtles, Galápagos sea lions, and several frigate birds flying over head. The walkers landed on the green sand olivine beach of Punta Cormorant and followed a trail bordered by “palo santo” trees and mesquites typical of the dry coastal area. In a brackish water lagoon behind the beach, flamingoes were feeding actively all afternoon. From the beach the trail lead to a paradisiacal white sand beach bathed by turquoise blue waters, where green sea turtles nest. From the shore we spotted several female sea turtles and a few diamond sting rays in the shallows. After this pleasant and relaxing day, we came aboard and in the evening saw Sara’s video preview and then enjoyed a barbecue dinner.
We arrived to Floreana Island after navigating all night long from Isabela Island. We disembarked early to explore Post Office Bay which is located on the northern coast of Floreana. In the 1800’s this was one of the most popular places for pirates, privateers, and whalers because it had a good anchorage, a fresh water spring in the highlands and plenty of Galápagos giant tortoises. In the late 1700’s the English captain James Colnett wrote about a wooden barrel where sailors could leave their letters and pick up those left there by previous ships. The mail was hand delivered later on by the ships going back home. This is how this very old mailing system began and still continues to function today. We went ashore, walked to the barrel, sorted through the stack of letters and found several to pick up, and we will hand deliver these to continue the ancient tradition.
After we left Post Office Bay we sailed towards Champion Islet and went swimming and snorkeling surrounded by large schools of fish of different kinds and of all colors. There are always large schools of fish on the east side of Champion because the marine currents that push up against the island bring a lot of phyto and zooplankton, making this a very rich and productive marine area. This islet is well known, not only for its wonderful marine life, but as the home of a small remaining population of Floreana mockingbirds. The mockingbirds are extinct on the main island because feral cats have hunted them and introduced cattle depleted their main source of food and protection: the prickly pear cactus. Since this special variety of cactus can only be found on the satellite islets like Champion, and there are no cats here, the mockingbirds are still found here too. From the panga we searched for the Floreana mockingbirds - and found several of these elusive birds - along with swallow tailed gulls, noddy terns, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies and Galápagos shearwaters.
Once everyone returned to the ship we navigated to Punta Cormorant. Since the weather conditions were just perfect, some of our guests went kayaking along the shoreline where they found sea turtles, Galápagos sea lions, and several frigate birds flying over head. The walkers landed on the green sand olivine beach of Punta Cormorant and followed a trail bordered by “palo santo” trees and mesquites typical of the dry coastal area. In a brackish water lagoon behind the beach, flamingoes were feeding actively all afternoon. From the beach the trail lead to a paradisiacal white sand beach bathed by turquoise blue waters, where green sea turtles nest. From the shore we spotted several female sea turtles and a few diamond sting rays in the shallows. After this pleasant and relaxing day, we came aboard and in the evening saw Sara’s video preview and then enjoyed a barbecue dinner.
