Floreana Island
Our morning began, as usual, with a wake up call from Lynn. We set off for the post office barrel at 6:30. The post office barrel dates back to the time of the pirates, when mail services were less than reliable. Today, visitors may drop off a post card to be hand delivered at a later date, as well as pick up post cards to drop off to addressees near their hometowns. Daniel and Bitinia read the names and addresses aloud, and many passengers took cards to deliver.
After visiting the post office, we went to La Loberia where we saw an abundance of baby sea lions. Cute, cute, cute! The pangas brought us back for breakfast. We had eggs benedict. It was delicious. After breakfast, we set out on a snorkeling adventure. It was choppy, and we jumped off the Zodiacs into the deep, warm water. We saw so many creatures: blue sea stars, the stony scorpion fish, playful sea lions performing aquatic ballet, black striped salema, and many others. The highlight of the dive was when Raphael dove deep into a cave and herded out a few dozen or more white tipped reef sharks that were resting inside.
We also watched the blue footed boobies dive for food directly in front of us. It was a nice, long outing. Then we had more great food. The chefs prepared an amazing carrot ginger soup, among other delicacies. Esteban had his hands full with the gift shop over-run by voracious shoppers. Right after that, the adventurous guests went back out for another snorkeling escapade. The current was fierce, but the view was incredible. We saw so many animals, including needle fish, a sea turtle, another shark, and of course, another sea lion circus. The guests who did not participate in the second snorkeling trip had the option of a nice siesta on the beach of Punta Cormorant.
We reconvened on the boat at 4:00 p.m., and set out for a short stroll across the island. We encountered a flock of feeding flamingos in all their pink glory. As we reached the other side of the island, we saw the most amazing full rainbow over the softest white sand. It was so unbelievable to behold that it didn’t seem real. This has been such a charmed adventure.
Our morning began, as usual, with a wake up call from Lynn. We set off for the post office barrel at 6:30. The post office barrel dates back to the time of the pirates, when mail services were less than reliable. Today, visitors may drop off a post card to be hand delivered at a later date, as well as pick up post cards to drop off to addressees near their hometowns. Daniel and Bitinia read the names and addresses aloud, and many passengers took cards to deliver.
After visiting the post office, we went to La Loberia where we saw an abundance of baby sea lions. Cute, cute, cute! The pangas brought us back for breakfast. We had eggs benedict. It was delicious. After breakfast, we set out on a snorkeling adventure. It was choppy, and we jumped off the Zodiacs into the deep, warm water. We saw so many creatures: blue sea stars, the stony scorpion fish, playful sea lions performing aquatic ballet, black striped salema, and many others. The highlight of the dive was when Raphael dove deep into a cave and herded out a few dozen or more white tipped reef sharks that were resting inside.
We also watched the blue footed boobies dive for food directly in front of us. It was a nice, long outing. Then we had more great food. The chefs prepared an amazing carrot ginger soup, among other delicacies. Esteban had his hands full with the gift shop over-run by voracious shoppers. Right after that, the adventurous guests went back out for another snorkeling escapade. The current was fierce, but the view was incredible. We saw so many animals, including needle fish, a sea turtle, another shark, and of course, another sea lion circus. The guests who did not participate in the second snorkeling trip had the option of a nice siesta on the beach of Punta Cormorant.
We reconvened on the boat at 4:00 p.m., and set out for a short stroll across the island. We encountered a flock of feeding flamingos in all their pink glory. As we reached the other side of the island, we saw the most amazing full rainbow over the softest white sand. It was so unbelievable to behold that it didn’t seem real. This has been such a charmed adventure.
