Floreana
We were still in bed when the anchor dropped. Our early morning excursion was about to start. At Post Office Bay, we picked up some letters that needed to be delivered from fellow travelers. There were postcards with destination to all different countries and continents. We picked up the ones that were close enough to our homes to be delivered by hand, in order to keep the tradition from the Post Office Barrel alive. It was a short and fun visit before breakfast.
Next we sailed to Champion Islet. Our Zodiacs were soon in the water and with the same luck we have had the entire week, we were able to see about 10 Floreana mockingbirds. Their population is close to extinction and to see that many is a fortunate event. The cactus, sea lions, tropic birds, crabs and pelicans were part of the scenery. We rode around the island and saw the area that was going to be ours for snorkeling. The water looked clear and inviting, the rocks were seen under the water, and as soon as we got back to our floating ship we got ready for what was going to be the third activity before lunch.
Soon after lunch, the first group of kayakers went in the water. We had a lot of fun looking at the sea birds that were around us. Some of our friends were lucky enough to have flamingos flying close to them. It was a bit windy but we were all back in time to join the others groups that were already heading to the green beach of Punta Cormorant. There is something very different here from the other places that we have seen during the week. This beach has of lot of crystals named olivine that are responsible for all that mysterious reflection on the sand.
The walk was smooth and surrounded with a lot of green incenses trees. The trail went close to the flamingo’s lagoon. It was great to see some young ones feeding on their own. There were not many boulders or lava flows to walk on. We followed the trail to the white powdered soft beach. Again, luck was on our side, as a large school of golden rays was swimming in very shallow water and two big white tip reef sharks were sharing the same place.
We took many pictures, as it turned out to be another exciting day in the Galápagos.
