Floreana Island
Today, we continued exploring the southern area of the archipelago, the famous island of Floreana, rich in human history. The day began early with a visit to the post office barrel, originally set up by whalers in the late 1700s, where many dropped and picked up mail. Later a short Zodiac ride took us toward a few islets were one can always find a large sea lion colony, tall Opuntia cacti trees seemingly growing out of lava rocks, and all kinds of shore birds. We had a particularly lucky morning, as individuals of the small penguin colony that inhabits the area were also seen in the water.
Snorkeling, glass-bottom boat tours and Zodiac cruises around the islet of Champion, showed us the rich marine life and introduced us to the home of the rare Floreana mocking bird, now extinct on the main island. All these activities were followed by a more cultural highlight of sampling Ecuadorian foods from the different regions of the mainland of this beautiful country, in an Ecuadorian buffet lunch.
In the afternoon there were more swimming and snorkeling outings, around the eroded tuff cone aptly named Devil’s Crown. This was followed by a wet landing on Floreana’s “green” beach.
Floreana is one of those islands that leave us with a feeling of peacefulness. The walk through the arid, or dry vegetation zone (dry only during the season from June to January) teaches us all about the adaptations these plants have developed in order to tolerate about six to seven months of virtual drought. It is a great place for botanists. During our walk we discovered several of the seven endemic plant genera, meaning they have been isolated long enough to become completely unique not only to the archipelago but to this particular island. Our photo of the day pictures some of our guests on the way back to the landing beach, just prior to a spectacular sunset.
Today, we continued exploring the southern area of the archipelago, the famous island of Floreana, rich in human history. The day began early with a visit to the post office barrel, originally set up by whalers in the late 1700s, where many dropped and picked up mail. Later a short Zodiac ride took us toward a few islets were one can always find a large sea lion colony, tall Opuntia cacti trees seemingly growing out of lava rocks, and all kinds of shore birds. We had a particularly lucky morning, as individuals of the small penguin colony that inhabits the area were also seen in the water.
Snorkeling, glass-bottom boat tours and Zodiac cruises around the islet of Champion, showed us the rich marine life and introduced us to the home of the rare Floreana mocking bird, now extinct on the main island. All these activities were followed by a more cultural highlight of sampling Ecuadorian foods from the different regions of the mainland of this beautiful country, in an Ecuadorian buffet lunch.
In the afternoon there were more swimming and snorkeling outings, around the eroded tuff cone aptly named Devil’s Crown. This was followed by a wet landing on Floreana’s “green” beach.
Floreana is one of those islands that leave us with a feeling of peacefulness. The walk through the arid, or dry vegetation zone (dry only during the season from June to January) teaches us all about the adaptations these plants have developed in order to tolerate about six to seven months of virtual drought. It is a great place for botanists. During our walk we discovered several of the seven endemic plant genera, meaning they have been isolated long enough to become completely unique not only to the archipelago but to this particular island. Our photo of the day pictures some of our guests on the way back to the landing beach, just prior to a spectacular sunset.
