Isla Floreana
We awoke this morning just off Isla Floreana. Here, early sailors and whalers who visited the Galápagos Islands established a rustic international postal system, and it is still used today by modern visitors to the islands. This morning, our earliest risers set off to visit the “Post Office Barrel.” Just as previous visitors dating back to the late 1700’s did, we brought mail to be left at the barrel, and picked up cards and letters which we will hand deliver to recipients in our hometowns when we return.
During breakfast, the National Geographic Endeavour repositioned to Champion Islet for our morning exploration of the undersea world. Conditions were excellent for snorkeling with warmer water (74.5F), gorgeously clear, in various shades of azure. Thick schools of yellow-tailed surgeonfish, Cortez chubs, steel pompanos, and king angelfish feasted on fry and tiny brine shrimp, while sea lions zoomed, played, and soared through the water around us. Among the rocky shoreline we saw a terrific variety of sea stars and tropical fish, including Mexican streamer hogfish, elegant Moorish idols, and colorful parrot fish.
After returning from the glass bottom boat and snorkeling, Zodiac cruises were offered in search of the rare Floreana mockingbird that is only found on the satellite islets of Floreana. Later, we returned to the rugged shoreline of Floreana for our afternoon activities, beginning with kayaking.
We arrived ashore at Punta Cormorant on Isla Floreana, and set off for our hikes from a beach rich with olivine, giving it a lovely greenish cast. Our first stop was at the edge of a brackish lagoon where richly pink greater flamingos were found along with black-necked stilts, whimbrels, and white-cheeked pintail ducks. The hike continued across the island to a beautiful, white coraline sand beach. This is the beginning of the sea turtle nesting season and we could see sea turtles swimming along the shore, and see the telltale indentations in the sand where they come to lay their eggs. Further down the beach we found brilliant red and orange Sally lightfoot crabs on deep black lava rocks. The surge of surf washing over the crabs created great opportunities for photographic images.
This evening our Expedition Leader, Paula Tagle, told us curious stories of Floreana’s not too distant, but very mysterious past. This involved a variety of unusual characters including a toothless dentist and a self-proclaimed empress with not one, but three boyfriends. We have discovered that it is unlikely that there will ever be a dull moment on this voyage we have embarked upon.
