Floreana and Isabela Island
Today we had our first early outing to go to the famous island of Floreana, an area that was heavily visited by whalers around the world. We were able to take part in this old whaling tradition which was to visit the old Post Office Barrel to pick up mail and leave ours to be hand-delivered. It all worked quite nicely! As soon as we were finished, we took our Zodiacs to a nearby beach where hundreds of sea lions were eagerly waiting for us to come and play.
We had the opportunity to see marine birds like blue footed boobies, brown pelicans, frigate birds and other wildlife as well. We fell so much in love with the waters around Floreana that we were all ready, after breakfast, to head out into the water to encounter the wildlife around here. Well, we were not disappointed. This little islet known as Champion is one of the fine areas for snorkeling. We all got to swim with sea lions, eels, many varieties of fish and the not-so-common hawksbill sea turtle! Some of our younger guests also got a free swimming lesson from the bull sea lions; that being one of their high lights of the day! It was an amazing morning for us which we all enjoyed.
In the afternoon, we set sails to one of the youngest islands in the Galápagos, Isabela. This island is filled with wild life and human history, and here is where the largest penal colony was established. We were all happy to visit this island and observe the human element in interaction with the wild life. We were all very pleased to learn about the conservation programs that the National Park and Darwin Station are conducting, the main one being the breeding center for giant tortoises.
We saw so many tortoises; adults, babies and juveniles. I believe we all fell in love with these odd-looking creatures. They were not the only ones that caught our eyes though. After the breeding center, we took a nice walk through a series of wetlands where pink flamingos were spotted which added a little color to our afternoon.
Today we had our first early outing to go to the famous island of Floreana, an area that was heavily visited by whalers around the world. We were able to take part in this old whaling tradition which was to visit the old Post Office Barrel to pick up mail and leave ours to be hand-delivered. It all worked quite nicely! As soon as we were finished, we took our Zodiacs to a nearby beach where hundreds of sea lions were eagerly waiting for us to come and play.
We had the opportunity to see marine birds like blue footed boobies, brown pelicans, frigate birds and other wildlife as well. We fell so much in love with the waters around Floreana that we were all ready, after breakfast, to head out into the water to encounter the wildlife around here. Well, we were not disappointed. This little islet known as Champion is one of the fine areas for snorkeling. We all got to swim with sea lions, eels, many varieties of fish and the not-so-common hawksbill sea turtle! Some of our younger guests also got a free swimming lesson from the bull sea lions; that being one of their high lights of the day! It was an amazing morning for us which we all enjoyed.
In the afternoon, we set sails to one of the youngest islands in the Galápagos, Isabela. This island is filled with wild life and human history, and here is where the largest penal colony was established. We were all happy to visit this island and observe the human element in interaction with the wild life. We were all very pleased to learn about the conservation programs that the National Park and Darwin Station are conducting, the main one being the breeding center for giant tortoises.
We saw so many tortoises; adults, babies and juveniles. I believe we all fell in love with these odd-looking creatures. They were not the only ones that caught our eyes though. After the breeding center, we took a nice walk through a series of wetlands where pink flamingos were spotted which added a little color to our afternoon.
