Floreana Island

An optional early morning wake up call took us to land at Post Office Bay, one of the most historical disembarking sites in the Galápagos.

The very first human being that ever lived on the islands landed here. Patrick Watkins, a Swedish buccaneer was left behind all by himself. The captain of his vessel, a captain who did not want him on board any more, left him there to fate around the year 1809, awaiting, most likely, a horrible death. He resulted to be a tough man, though, and he survived quite well. For about three to four years he lived on the island of Floreana.

Very few books mention Patrick Watkins, the first human inhabitant of the islands, but when we land at Post Office Bay, we go back in time and memories of early sailors and settlers come to our minds.

We hear great stories from our naturalist about the Post Office barrel and how it was used by early navigators to keep in touch for all the years they stayed at sea. A wine barrel was placed in this Bay by Captain James Colnett in 1793 so people in those times could leave love letters, battle strategies and even maps of hidden treasures at this place so others could pick them up.

We still keep the tradition alive and we have our guests write letters to their beloved ones and also invite them to take others to their places of origin. The tradition says that you have to hand-deliver this mail, so stamps are not necessary (and don’t work) here!

We had the most enjoyable of afternoons kayaking along the shores of Punta Cormorant. The walk around the flamingo lagoon at the end of the day was a great highlight.