Floreana Island
Our day started bright and early with an optional wake up call to visit a nice bay in Floreana Island, called the Post Office Bay. This place was very popular with whalers in the seventeenth century, as they anchored in the bay to provide their boats with water and food. Unfortunately, on this island they took so many of the land tortoises that the population, an endemic subspecies, is now extinct.
We returned to Polaris for a delicious breakfast, during which our captain lifted anchor and set sail towards the exquisite little parasitic islet called Champion. This was our chance to immerse ourselves once more in the aquatic world, using the tools provided us: snorkeling equipment and the glass bottom boat. Our quest was successful, although the waters were on the chilly side, they were crystal clear, and packed with all kinds of creatures: we saw many species of tropical fish, sharks, rays, even an octopus! Some snorkelers decided to give their undivided attention to packs of juvenile sea lions that were jumping right over them and urging them to dive deeper. All of us had a great morning, including the sea lions!
In the afternoon we disembarked on a beach made by volcanic ash and eroded rock, which has a particularly high content of olivine crystals, which give to the sand a nice greenish color. Walking up a short trail from the beach further inland, we came across a lagoon of brackish water were we encountered a flock of greater flamingos, which in Galapagos have developed an astonishingly bright pink color. These unforgettable birds were both resting, one leg tucked under their body and feeding, by swaying their long necks back and forwards through the mud and water. There is just a small population in the archipelago, about 700 hundred individuals, spread amongst the three or four islands which have a suitable habitat.
This wonderful day drew to a close in a very relaxing place - a very fine coralline beach where dozens of green sea turtles come every year to lay their eggs. We saw some of them in the shallows just off the beach, and although it is a little early for them, they have been reported nesting in Galapagos all year round, so maybe they were just awaiting sunset to start their arduous trip up to the sand dunes.
Our day started bright and early with an optional wake up call to visit a nice bay in Floreana Island, called the Post Office Bay. This place was very popular with whalers in the seventeenth century, as they anchored in the bay to provide their boats with water and food. Unfortunately, on this island they took so many of the land tortoises that the population, an endemic subspecies, is now extinct.
We returned to Polaris for a delicious breakfast, during which our captain lifted anchor and set sail towards the exquisite little parasitic islet called Champion. This was our chance to immerse ourselves once more in the aquatic world, using the tools provided us: snorkeling equipment and the glass bottom boat. Our quest was successful, although the waters were on the chilly side, they were crystal clear, and packed with all kinds of creatures: we saw many species of tropical fish, sharks, rays, even an octopus! Some snorkelers decided to give their undivided attention to packs of juvenile sea lions that were jumping right over them and urging them to dive deeper. All of us had a great morning, including the sea lions!
In the afternoon we disembarked on a beach made by volcanic ash and eroded rock, which has a particularly high content of olivine crystals, which give to the sand a nice greenish color. Walking up a short trail from the beach further inland, we came across a lagoon of brackish water were we encountered a flock of greater flamingos, which in Galapagos have developed an astonishingly bright pink color. These unforgettable birds were both resting, one leg tucked under their body and feeding, by swaying their long necks back and forwards through the mud and water. There is just a small population in the archipelago, about 700 hundred individuals, spread amongst the three or four islands which have a suitable habitat.
This wonderful day drew to a close in a very relaxing place - a very fine coralline beach where dozens of green sea turtles come every year to lay their eggs. We saw some of them in the shallows just off the beach, and although it is a little early for them, they have been reported nesting in Galapagos all year round, so maybe they were just awaiting sunset to start their arduous trip up to the sand dunes.
