Floreana Island
We had yet another early morning wake-up call and pre-breakfast outing. This morning we boarded the Zodiacs for a short but interesting visit to Post Office Bay. Since the 1790’s, this has been a favorite haunt of, first the whalers and sealers and later yachtsman and tourists. The hand delivery mail swap tradition that began with the whalers is still practiced by visitors who stop at the famous post barrel, today. We sorted through the mail, selecting items that could be delivered by our guests and then adding our own post cards to the pile. Hopefully, someone will knock upon our doors and hand deliver these cards in the near future. Following our visit to the Post Office, we enjoyed a Zodiac ride around the Loberia Islets. Several sea turtles, a huge male sea lion resting on shore, and a perky penguin posing for all of us on the lava rocks were among the sightings that made this outing yet again worth the effort of having gotten up early.
We returned to the ship for a well deserved breakfast and then suited up for snorkeling around Champion Island. The water was warmer today, and we were delighted with the abundant and colorful fish and friendly sea lions. Our Hotel Manager, Esteban, had hot chocolate waiting to warm us when we returned to the Islander. Lunch was followed by a siesta, and in the mid afternoon, Naturalist Paula entertained us with the story of the Baroness of Floreana. Then anyone who wanted to relax, swim, or stroll on the beach disembarked for an hour of free time at Punta Cormorant.
The afternoon’s hike began at 4:00 p.m. and started from the greenish brown olivine beach where we made our landing. At least twenty flamingoes were resting and feeding in a shallow brackish lagoon behind the beach. We had a great look at them from the two trails we hiked. The naturalists pointed out several unique plant species; endemics that are only found in this part of the Galápagos Islands. On the white sand beach across a rise and cindery outcrop, we found the desiccated carcass of a bottle nose dolphin and evidence of nesting sea turtles.
We had yet another early morning wake-up call and pre-breakfast outing. This morning we boarded the Zodiacs for a short but interesting visit to Post Office Bay. Since the 1790’s, this has been a favorite haunt of, first the whalers and sealers and later yachtsman and tourists. The hand delivery mail swap tradition that began with the whalers is still practiced by visitors who stop at the famous post barrel, today. We sorted through the mail, selecting items that could be delivered by our guests and then adding our own post cards to the pile. Hopefully, someone will knock upon our doors and hand deliver these cards in the near future. Following our visit to the Post Office, we enjoyed a Zodiac ride around the Loberia Islets. Several sea turtles, a huge male sea lion resting on shore, and a perky penguin posing for all of us on the lava rocks were among the sightings that made this outing yet again worth the effort of having gotten up early.
We returned to the ship for a well deserved breakfast and then suited up for snorkeling around Champion Island. The water was warmer today, and we were delighted with the abundant and colorful fish and friendly sea lions. Our Hotel Manager, Esteban, had hot chocolate waiting to warm us when we returned to the Islander. Lunch was followed by a siesta, and in the mid afternoon, Naturalist Paula entertained us with the story of the Baroness of Floreana. Then anyone who wanted to relax, swim, or stroll on the beach disembarked for an hour of free time at Punta Cormorant.
The afternoon’s hike began at 4:00 p.m. and started from the greenish brown olivine beach where we made our landing. At least twenty flamingoes were resting and feeding in a shallow brackish lagoon behind the beach. We had a great look at them from the two trails we hiked. The naturalists pointed out several unique plant species; endemics that are only found in this part of the Galápagos Islands. On the white sand beach across a rise and cindery outcrop, we found the desiccated carcass of a bottle nose dolphin and evidence of nesting sea turtles.
