Floreana Island
Continuing our visit in the southern part of the archipelago, today we explored Floreana Island and its surroundings by land and sea. Early in the morning we began with a stroll to Punta Cormorant where we encountered flamingoes, black-necked stilts and white-cheeked pintails on the brackish lagoon just behind the green landing beach. At the beginning we observed the flamingos from a distance, but afterwards they began to approach us and we were able to take spectacular photos of these beautiful birds.
After breakfast, we headed out to deep-water snorkel and were dropped off by Zodiacs into rough, clear water: straight into colorful schools of fish. We observed king angelfish, razor surgeons, black-striped salemas and many playful sea lions. On the bottom we observed sea stars, sea cucumbers and many other species of colorful invertebrates; this was off the little volcanic cone of Champion Islet, where shearwaters dipped and skimmed the water and baby sea lions and carnival-colored Sally Lightfoot crabs nestled and swallow-tailed gulls dozed in the nooks of lava rock.
In the afternoon our first outing began with kayaking along the coastline of Floreana Island. Our guests could enjoy beautiful landscapes and incredible creatures swimming around them, with water so transparent we could observe the sea turtles’ bodies clearly. Afterwards, we landed at Post Office Bay where the historic mail barrel was erected more than 200 years ago and is now maintained by the Park Service. Following the old tradition, our guests placed letters and postcards in the barrel, taking others to hand deliver.
Finally, our adventure ended with an incredible Zodiac ride along Post Office Bay. We observed the ruined bungalow which the enigmatic baroness Eloise inhabited during the 1930’s with two lovers; nearby, many small islets showed us many different creatures such as blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs and probably the most incredible, the Galápagos penguin. We came back to the National Geographic Endeavour and, little by little, nature offered us its last gift to us: an incredible sunset as a farewell to the day.
