Floreana Island
We woke up this morning in front of Post Office Bay on Floreana Island. This was a great day and we saw everything we could have dreamed of. We started very early in the morning with a wet landing on a smooth sandy beach. This used to be a very busy place during the time of the whalers; Galápagos giant tortoises, fresh water and the post office barrel were good reasons to come to Floreana. The Galápagos giant tortoises from this island were advertised as “the best tasting tortoises” in the whole archipelago; needless to say they were quickly taken from the island, and became extinct.
We went ashore and looked for letters and postcards in the barrel. After picking up a few, we returned aboard, had breakfast and got ready to go for a Zodiac ride. As we arrived we had a pod of bottle nosed dolphins that playfully accompanied us for a few minutes bow-riding the National Geographic Endeavour, then later during our Zodiac ride along the coast of Champion Islet. This islet is one of our best snorkeling places in the whole archipelago; we snorkeled in nice clear waters with playful sea lions, and lots of colorful fish.
Our afternoon was a contrast between the bright blue color of the ocean and the pink from the flamingoes. We found some juveniles and spotted a few adults devotedly incubating on the black lava rocks. The sunset was just incredible and appeared as a surprise since it looked overcast most of the day, with some gárua keeping us cool. The other aspect was the light smell of wet lava mingling with the sweet scent of Palo Santo trees.
There at the end of our day we watched the sun disappearing behind the horizon with all the red and orange colors on the hills of Floreana Island.
