Floreana Island
We started early in the morning at 6:00 am with a visit to Post Office Bay, an important place within the human history of the Galápagos Islands. The barrel first appeared in this place back in the 1700s during the whaling times. Mail left on the island was the only way of communication for sailors and their loved ones. Today, Ecuadorians have managed to keep this old whaling tradition alive by leaving and taking postcards that will eventually reach their final destination by being hand-delivered.
Exploration continued later today at Champion Islet, just offshore Floreana; snorkeling, the glass bottom boat, and zodiac rides kept us busy during the morning. This small volcanic cone is one of the two places where we can still observe the Floreana mockingbird. Today during our panga ride we found a few of them among some other birds. The snorkeling was superb, the water was clear and we had a wonderful experience observing many colorful fish and the playful Galápagos sea lions that did not want to get away from the glass of the glass bottom boat.
We visited Punta Cormorant in the afternoon, located in the northwestern side of Santa Maria, Charles or Floreana Island. Over a cindery terrain we learned about the endemic plants of the archipelago. We saw the greater flamingos, a Galápagos subspecies also endemic to the place. We saw the brackish water lagoon, where the “artemia salima” makes up for most of the nutrients in the flamingo’s diet. It is abundant in the replenished waters of the big brackish water lagoon located behind the beach. The stunning coloration of the birds contrasted with the very dry forest that covers the hills of the parasite cones that dominate the island’s scenery.
Later today as we approached the sunset, on the white sandy beach we could do nothing but watch how the frigate birds were feeding on the Green Pacific Sea Turtle hatchlings that were coming out of the nests, confused with the beginning of the Garua season that is taking over the inhabited islands of the Galápagos. This fragile creature digs out of the nest, making itself easy prey for the expert flyer residents of the islands.
