Floreana & Isabela Islands
We woke up early in the morning, and our guests quickly prepared to visit the “Mystery Island” of the Galápagos that is Floreana.
Floreana Island has a different kind of charm. The landscape is unique, and the harsh human history that took place at this island seems to have left traces of an ambience of darkness and secrecy…
We disembarked before breakfast in a place that has been a famous Galápagos landmark for over two centuries now, about the time the islands first began to be used by humans. A barrel was erected by the first whalers that visited the Pacific in order to be used as a means to get their mail home. Nowadays, we are following in their footsteps to see the ancient sailor’s tradition, located in the famous Post Office Bay.
After breakfast, the ship repositioned to Champion Islet, just offshore from Floreana and home to an endangered bird species now extinct on the main island, the Floreana mockingbird, as well as the site of some of the best snorkeling to be had in Galápagos. We spent the morning snorkeling and exploring the undersea in our glass bottom boat which was fantastic! The water temperature was perfect, and the visibility was at least 35 feet (very good for the productive waters of the archipelago). All of us had a nice time swimming with many different tropical fish, sharks, and more, plus something that we did not expect to find: a couple of young Galápagos penguins swimming right beside our Zodiacs.
Our day continued with a calm navigation to Isabela Island, where we disembarked in a small fishing village made up of a few quaint houses and sandy streets built along a long, white beach.
In this town, we visited a program that the Galápagos National Park has set up in order to repopulate the two southern volcanoes of Isabela with their endangered giant tortoise populations. It was a fascinating visit, as we saw tortoises of only a few weeks old whilst others were ready to be repatriated, having reached the age of about five years old, which is the time that the Park takes care of these baby reptiles. This visit was complemented by a walk through the rare wetlands of Galápagos, of which Isabela has a relatively large extension.
After this visit, we returned towards the dock along the beach and enjoyed a beautiful sunset that made the sky look as though this volcano was erupting once again.
We woke up early in the morning, and our guests quickly prepared to visit the “Mystery Island” of the Galápagos that is Floreana.
Floreana Island has a different kind of charm. The landscape is unique, and the harsh human history that took place at this island seems to have left traces of an ambience of darkness and secrecy…
We disembarked before breakfast in a place that has been a famous Galápagos landmark for over two centuries now, about the time the islands first began to be used by humans. A barrel was erected by the first whalers that visited the Pacific in order to be used as a means to get their mail home. Nowadays, we are following in their footsteps to see the ancient sailor’s tradition, located in the famous Post Office Bay.
After breakfast, the ship repositioned to Champion Islet, just offshore from Floreana and home to an endangered bird species now extinct on the main island, the Floreana mockingbird, as well as the site of some of the best snorkeling to be had in Galápagos. We spent the morning snorkeling and exploring the undersea in our glass bottom boat which was fantastic! The water temperature was perfect, and the visibility was at least 35 feet (very good for the productive waters of the archipelago). All of us had a nice time swimming with many different tropical fish, sharks, and more, plus something that we did not expect to find: a couple of young Galápagos penguins swimming right beside our Zodiacs.
Our day continued with a calm navigation to Isabela Island, where we disembarked in a small fishing village made up of a few quaint houses and sandy streets built along a long, white beach.
In this town, we visited a program that the Galápagos National Park has set up in order to repopulate the two southern volcanoes of Isabela with their endangered giant tortoise populations. It was a fascinating visit, as we saw tortoises of only a few weeks old whilst others were ready to be repatriated, having reached the age of about five years old, which is the time that the Park takes care of these baby reptiles. This visit was complemented by a walk through the rare wetlands of Galápagos, of which Isabela has a relatively large extension.
After this visit, we returned towards the dock along the beach and enjoyed a beautiful sunset that made the sky look as though this volcano was erupting once again.
