Floreana Island
Today we woke up at 6 am to get ready for our visit to Post Office Bay, this is the very first place that was used by humans in the Galápagos Islands. Whalers stopped on the island to stock up on giant tortoises for food; as they were away from home for such long periods of time, they left mail inside a wooden barrel to be taken back by any ship returning to their home port. We followed the tradition and left a few postcards there without stamps, as the next group of visitors is supposed to pick them up and deliver them personally.
We went back on board for breakfast and headed off to a small islet where we all went snorkeling to discover the underwater treasures that the islands had for us. What a marvel, beautiful clear blue water, thousands of different fish species, of all shapes and colors were surrounding us as we slowly let ourselves drift away with the current, a new discovery around every corner… big schools of surgeon fishes here, tiny little blennies hiding in old barnacles there, a sea lion busy working at protecting his territory on another bay, etc, etc…
Back onto the Zodiac exhausted but happy, we realized that is was just about 10 o'clock in the morning and I was ready to go to bed, it seemed as I had had a full day already!
After a great lunch and a well deserved siesta we headed off to our afternoon visit to Punta Cormorant on Floreana. We landed on a green sand beach made up of olivine crystals and headed inland thru a nice flat trail that took all around the precious flamingo lagoon. We started that walk around 4 pm, and that was a special treat as we had beautiful light that made every view magical.
At the end of the trail there was a beautiful white sand beach where we could see the nests that the green sea turtles had left a few weeks or months earlier and we enjoyed the rest off the afternoon walking bare footed, dragging our feet in the water in search of sting rays, appreciating the wonders of life and of this magical place that has remained so pristine and that makes us all feel so fortunate to be.
Today we woke up at 6 am to get ready for our visit to Post Office Bay, this is the very first place that was used by humans in the Galápagos Islands. Whalers stopped on the island to stock up on giant tortoises for food; as they were away from home for such long periods of time, they left mail inside a wooden barrel to be taken back by any ship returning to their home port. We followed the tradition and left a few postcards there without stamps, as the next group of visitors is supposed to pick them up and deliver them personally.
We went back on board for breakfast and headed off to a small islet where we all went snorkeling to discover the underwater treasures that the islands had for us. What a marvel, beautiful clear blue water, thousands of different fish species, of all shapes and colors were surrounding us as we slowly let ourselves drift away with the current, a new discovery around every corner… big schools of surgeon fishes here, tiny little blennies hiding in old barnacles there, a sea lion busy working at protecting his territory on another bay, etc, etc…
Back onto the Zodiac exhausted but happy, we realized that is was just about 10 o'clock in the morning and I was ready to go to bed, it seemed as I had had a full day already!
After a great lunch and a well deserved siesta we headed off to our afternoon visit to Punta Cormorant on Floreana. We landed on a green sand beach made up of olivine crystals and headed inland thru a nice flat trail that took all around the precious flamingo lagoon. We started that walk around 4 pm, and that was a special treat as we had beautiful light that made every view magical.
At the end of the trail there was a beautiful white sand beach where we could see the nests that the green sea turtles had left a few weeks or months earlier and we enjoyed the rest off the afternoon walking bare footed, dragging our feet in the water in search of sting rays, appreciating the wonders of life and of this magical place that has remained so pristine and that makes us all feel so fortunate to be.
