Floreana Island
After a smooth navigation, we arrived to Floreana in the early morning. We took advantage of the great light and got ashore before breakfast. We landed on a smooth sandy beach on Post Office Bay where we found a wooden barrel and deposited our mail, just like old whalers did from the late 1700’s. We also looked for mail to hand-deliver and found letters going to different places around the world.
After visiting Post Office Bay we headed back to the ship for breakfast. Meanwhile the ship lifted anchor and sailed toward Champion Islet where we later went for a Zodiac ride along the coast. We looked for the Floreana mockingbird and found several of this species feeding on cactus flowers and fruits. This bird is one of the rarest in the world and has a small population because introduced animals such as cats and rats depleted their population on the main island of Floreana.
Once we finished exploring the coast from the Zodiac we got ready with our snorkeling gear and went in the water around this islet. This morning we swam with playful sea lions and found several schools of fish and golden rays. The water was clear and very warm; we had a great time exploring the underwater world.
As we came aboard we navigated once more and moved to Punta Cormorant; there some people went kayaking along its dramatic coastline. Later, everyone went walking towards a gorgeous organic white sandy beach, better known as “flour beach” because of the color of the sand and its texture. This beach is one of the most important nesting sites for green sea turtles. We were so lucky because a couple of mating turtles were right off the beach. We watched them for a long while; other male and female turtles were also swimming in the bay.
We saw a lonely frigate bird flying along the coast looking carefully for turtle hatchlings, which sometimes leave the safety of their nest by mistake before dark. We looked at that frigate for some time but didn’t find any baby turtles.
We returned back to National Geographic Islander and enjoyed a great sunset. We will navigate all night long to Española Island, the oldest in the archipelago; we are ready and very excited to see what we encounter tomorrow.
After a smooth navigation, we arrived to Floreana in the early morning. We took advantage of the great light and got ashore before breakfast. We landed on a smooth sandy beach on Post Office Bay where we found a wooden barrel and deposited our mail, just like old whalers did from the late 1700’s. We also looked for mail to hand-deliver and found letters going to different places around the world.
After visiting Post Office Bay we headed back to the ship for breakfast. Meanwhile the ship lifted anchor and sailed toward Champion Islet where we later went for a Zodiac ride along the coast. We looked for the Floreana mockingbird and found several of this species feeding on cactus flowers and fruits. This bird is one of the rarest in the world and has a small population because introduced animals such as cats and rats depleted their population on the main island of Floreana.
Once we finished exploring the coast from the Zodiac we got ready with our snorkeling gear and went in the water around this islet. This morning we swam with playful sea lions and found several schools of fish and golden rays. The water was clear and very warm; we had a great time exploring the underwater world.
As we came aboard we navigated once more and moved to Punta Cormorant; there some people went kayaking along its dramatic coastline. Later, everyone went walking towards a gorgeous organic white sandy beach, better known as “flour beach” because of the color of the sand and its texture. This beach is one of the most important nesting sites for green sea turtles. We were so lucky because a couple of mating turtles were right off the beach. We watched them for a long while; other male and female turtles were also swimming in the bay.
We saw a lonely frigate bird flying along the coast looking carefully for turtle hatchlings, which sometimes leave the safety of their nest by mistake before dark. We looked at that frigate for some time but didn’t find any baby turtles.
We returned back to National Geographic Islander and enjoyed a great sunset. We will navigate all night long to Española Island, the oldest in the archipelago; we are ready and very excited to see what we encounter tomorrow.
