Floreana Island
Our day started early today by visiting one of the most historical islands in Galápagos, the Post Office Bay. Floreana Island was first colonized in 1832 by Ecuador, as it claimed the archipelago. We went to the shore and found one of the most popular places among early visitors including pirates and whalers. We had the chance to see this place, very much in the same way these early visitors did. We could feel the warm and gentle breeze of the end of the rainy season in our faces as well.
Once on land, behind the vegetation and well hidden, there is an old wooden barrel. Inside the barrel we found many postcards with addresses from all over the World. Today, just like in the old times, as whalers and others after them, we picked up and dropped letters and post cards to be hand delivered, without using stamps!
After our visit to the barrel, we had a great breakfast during our navigation towards our next stop of the day, Champion Islet. We dropped anchor and headed on our Zodiac fleet to explore the shoreline of Champion looking for the very rare Floreana mockingbird. We were successful for we saw several mockingbirds. In addition, along the coastline we found large colonies of blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galápagos sea lions and huge prickly pear cacti that look like trees. We returned aboard to get ready to go snorkeling around Champion Islet. This was a fantastic snorkeling; there were rays, sharks, Galápagos sea lions, and large schools of fish.
In the afternoon we headed to another location, Punta Cormorant. Some of our guests went kayaking; others went to the beach for a refreshing swim. Some sea lions showed up to play around for a little while. After these activities we went for a walk along the volcanic trail of Punta Cormorant. We encountered Greater flamingoes, Diamond stingrays, and we spotted one mating couple of pacific green sea turtles as well. A lonely frigate bird was also observed; the bird was trying to pick up baby turtles from a nest. Some juvenile sharks were very busy hunting for small fish while a large school of golden rays swam back and forth along the coastline.
We returned aboard with the last sun rays and enjoyed the reflection of beautiful golden colors on the waters around Punta Cormorant.
Our day started early today by visiting one of the most historical islands in Galápagos, the Post Office Bay. Floreana Island was first colonized in 1832 by Ecuador, as it claimed the archipelago. We went to the shore and found one of the most popular places among early visitors including pirates and whalers. We had the chance to see this place, very much in the same way these early visitors did. We could feel the warm and gentle breeze of the end of the rainy season in our faces as well.
Once on land, behind the vegetation and well hidden, there is an old wooden barrel. Inside the barrel we found many postcards with addresses from all over the World. Today, just like in the old times, as whalers and others after them, we picked up and dropped letters and post cards to be hand delivered, without using stamps!
After our visit to the barrel, we had a great breakfast during our navigation towards our next stop of the day, Champion Islet. We dropped anchor and headed on our Zodiac fleet to explore the shoreline of Champion looking for the very rare Floreana mockingbird. We were successful for we saw several mockingbirds. In addition, along the coastline we found large colonies of blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galápagos sea lions and huge prickly pear cacti that look like trees. We returned aboard to get ready to go snorkeling around Champion Islet. This was a fantastic snorkeling; there were rays, sharks, Galápagos sea lions, and large schools of fish.
In the afternoon we headed to another location, Punta Cormorant. Some of our guests went kayaking; others went to the beach for a refreshing swim. Some sea lions showed up to play around for a little while. After these activities we went for a walk along the volcanic trail of Punta Cormorant. We encountered Greater flamingoes, Diamond stingrays, and we spotted one mating couple of pacific green sea turtles as well. A lonely frigate bird was also observed; the bird was trying to pick up baby turtles from a nest. Some juvenile sharks were very busy hunting for small fish while a large school of golden rays swam back and forth along the coastline.
We returned aboard with the last sun rays and enjoyed the reflection of beautiful golden colors on the waters around Punta Cormorant.
