Floreana Island
We woke up with the view of a true jewel of the Galápagos Archipelago, Floreana Island. Weather conditions were really good the whole day with clear skies and the sun shining.
During this third day of our expedition around the islands we had the chance to see a lot of the unique flora and fauna of Floreana Island. Once again we could notice with amazement that animals in these realms are not afraid of humans at all. In some cases you have to walk very carefully otherwise you could step on them. It was a great opportunity as well for our guests to get to know more about the human history of Galápagos. Floreana Island used to be a common destination for whalers and pirates in the past centuries. The famous Naturalist Charles Darwin visited this island in 1835 and probably was as amazed as we were with all the wonderful things we observed today during our walk. Landscapes on Floreana Island are so varied and stunning; they range from a big brand new lava field to a brackish water lagoon full of colorful flamingos. We also had the chance not only to walk from a greenish sandy inorganic beach to a large white sandy organic beach but we could compare them. From the so called “flour sand beach” we came across many Pacific green sea turtles swimming and sting rays basking on the shoreline.
Other activities practiced were kayaking on a calm bay, glass bottom boat tours along Champion Islet, deep water snorkeling outings and Zodiac rides. Snorkeling was particularly great today. We explored successfully the Galápagos marine ecosystem for we had the thrill not only to see many colorful reef fish species but sharks, sea turtles and sea lions. The fabulous day we spent on Floreana came to an end with a beautiful sunset at the sea.
