Floreana Island

We woke up in Post Office Bay, where centuries have witnessed the arrival and departure of Galápagos visitors. On the Island, a barrel containing mail and postcards from some of these people waits to be sorted and hand delivered. The tradition asks travelers to take the ones that are addressed close to their hometown and deliver them by hand. That was what we did this morning; collect mail to deliver to places like Ireland, Virginia and NY…

After breakfast, we got ready for our water activities. Off the coast of a little island called Champion, we chose to either snorkel, view wildlife by glass bottom boat or take a Zodiac ride in search of the elusive Floreana mockingbird. The snorkeling was breathtaking with fish, sea lions and sea turtles.

After lunch, we re-positioned to Floreana, a site named Punta Cormorant. More water activities followed, such as kayaks outings and swimming at the beach. Several flamingos were waiting for us in a brackish water lagoon. The landing beach was full of tiny little green glass, a strange precious stone better known as peridot. We walked into a dormant forest of “Palo Santo” trees in order to arrive at the other side of the island where a white beach was waiting for us. This white coralline beach is a sanctuary for turtles, rays and sharks. There were also many trails made by the sea turtles to make their nests. We returned to the ship with the beautiful colors of the Floreana sunset.

During the evening, we viewed an outstanding sky covered with stars. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go to the highest desk to observe, learn and enjoy the Galápagos Sky.