Floreana Island
After a smooth navigation we arrived this morning at Post Office Bay on Floreana Island. This island is one of the oldest ones in the archipelago. This morning was great, calm seas, clear skies and a soft warm breeze all around us. Post Office Bay, the place where we landed early in the morning, has a very rich human history. It used to be a mandatory resting place for pirates, buccaneers and later on for whalers and visitors from all over the world. When one sees this place at first it may look a little bit too dry and way too isolated, but for these ancient visitors, it used to be the only place to collect giant tortoises. From this location, the early visitors could climb to the highlands in search of fresh water. Around the late 1700’s an English Captain described the system of leaving mail in an old wooden barrel in this area. The passing ships could take the letters found there to their destinations, hand delivering letters and messages. We followed the tradition, picking up several postcards that will be hand delivered just like in the old times.
After this amusing visit we continued with the rest of our activities that were planned for the morning. We went to snorkel around Champion Islet. The conditions today, water temperature and visibility, were almost perfect. In crystal clear waters we observed thousands of fish swimming around us and sea lions playing. As we were leaving Champion Islet a large pod of bottle nosed dolphins were spotted. They followed our ship and came really close bow riding for some minutes. It was amazing to share our navigation with these beautiful animals. We saw several adults and a tiny baby with its mother playing in the wake of our ship. Once we arrived at Punta Cormorant, we went kayaking and exploring this place; several Greater flamingos, Galápagos sea lions and sea turtles made the afternoon’s visit a wonderful one.
After a smooth navigation we arrived this morning at Post Office Bay on Floreana Island. This island is one of the oldest ones in the archipelago. This morning was great, calm seas, clear skies and a soft warm breeze all around us. Post Office Bay, the place where we landed early in the morning, has a very rich human history. It used to be a mandatory resting place for pirates, buccaneers and later on for whalers and visitors from all over the world. When one sees this place at first it may look a little bit too dry and way too isolated, but for these ancient visitors, it used to be the only place to collect giant tortoises. From this location, the early visitors could climb to the highlands in search of fresh water. Around the late 1700’s an English Captain described the system of leaving mail in an old wooden barrel in this area. The passing ships could take the letters found there to their destinations, hand delivering letters and messages. We followed the tradition, picking up several postcards that will be hand delivered just like in the old times.
After this amusing visit we continued with the rest of our activities that were planned for the morning. We went to snorkel around Champion Islet. The conditions today, water temperature and visibility, were almost perfect. In crystal clear waters we observed thousands of fish swimming around us and sea lions playing. As we were leaving Champion Islet a large pod of bottle nosed dolphins were spotted. They followed our ship and came really close bow riding for some minutes. It was amazing to share our navigation with these beautiful animals. We saw several adults and a tiny baby with its mother playing in the wake of our ship. Once we arrived at Punta Cormorant, we went kayaking and exploring this place; several Greater flamingos, Galápagos sea lions and sea turtles made the afternoon’s visit a wonderful one.
