Floreana Island
A juvenile flamingo in the middle of the trail!
In the morning we had wonderful snorkeling and glass bottom boat outings around Champion Islet near Floreana Island. The ever-playful sea lions made the day for many of us. Later, during a Zodiac ride around the same islet, we had very good sightings of the endemic Floreana mockingbirds, more playful sea lions, and even a small white tipped reef shark.
In the afternoon we landed at Punta Cormorant, on a lovely green beach. The sand is green colored due to the abundance of olivine crystals in the composition of this unusual sand. A small welcome committee of sea lions was waiting for us. Some others were sleeping peacefully showing no concern about our arrival. We had a delightful walk through the arid vegetation zone. People interested in plants were just delighted, since we have a big variety here. Some of the plant species found on Floreana are endemic not only at the species level but they are endemic genera. Behind the disembarkation place there is a brackish water lagoon. This paradisiacal lagoon is where we often see greater flamingos. Today was not an exception; we saw a very large group of these fantastic birds. They all looked incredibly beautiful with their bright pink color reflected in the water. Today in particular was really special though, as we saw a juvenile flamingo wandering along the trail, just a small distance from the lagoon. We all were astounded as we watched the juvenile for several minutes just strolling up the path in front of us! The juvenile still had many white feathers; with just a few turning pink. Its whitish coloration is due to the fact that the bird has not eaten enough brine shrimp yet to change its color. This baby, as I call it, seemed to be very curious and decided to continue its little walk along the trail. It was really amazing to see it so relaxed and so fearless of us. For me, it was the first time in many years guiding in the archipelago I observe this unusual behavior. This is one of the reasons why I like the Galapagos Islands so much: every single day we can experience new and fantastic encounters like the one we had today.
A juvenile flamingo in the middle of the trail!
In the morning we had wonderful snorkeling and glass bottom boat outings around Champion Islet near Floreana Island. The ever-playful sea lions made the day for many of us. Later, during a Zodiac ride around the same islet, we had very good sightings of the endemic Floreana mockingbirds, more playful sea lions, and even a small white tipped reef shark.
In the afternoon we landed at Punta Cormorant, on a lovely green beach. The sand is green colored due to the abundance of olivine crystals in the composition of this unusual sand. A small welcome committee of sea lions was waiting for us. Some others were sleeping peacefully showing no concern about our arrival. We had a delightful walk through the arid vegetation zone. People interested in plants were just delighted, since we have a big variety here. Some of the plant species found on Floreana are endemic not only at the species level but they are endemic genera. Behind the disembarkation place there is a brackish water lagoon. This paradisiacal lagoon is where we often see greater flamingos. Today was not an exception; we saw a very large group of these fantastic birds. They all looked incredibly beautiful with their bright pink color reflected in the water. Today in particular was really special though, as we saw a juvenile flamingo wandering along the trail, just a small distance from the lagoon. We all were astounded as we watched the juvenile for several minutes just strolling up the path in front of us! The juvenile still had many white feathers; with just a few turning pink. Its whitish coloration is due to the fact that the bird has not eaten enough brine shrimp yet to change its color. This baby, as I call it, seemed to be very curious and decided to continue its little walk along the trail. It was really amazing to see it so relaxed and so fearless of us. For me, it was the first time in many years guiding in the archipelago I observe this unusual behavior. This is one of the reasons why I like the Galapagos Islands so much: every single day we can experience new and fantastic encounters like the one we had today.
