Floreana & Isabela Islands
Today we visited the legendary Post Office Bay where long ago, the post office barrel was erected. This was a mailing system created to link the sailors that were working on board of the whaling ships and their families, wherever they might have been. The system has change quite a bit, and we decided to continue with the newer rules: drop postcards and pick up as many as you can!
Floreana happens to be known under the name of the enchanted island, partly because a lot of people had disappeared in its intricate land. The island indeed has been colonized several times, but very few times has the colonization has successful. Nowadays, Floreana has the smallest population of the entire Galápagos Islands.
But Floreana has too many wonderful things for us to be concentrated on its dark side, so we decided to stay on the “good side of the force” and enjoy it as much as possible.
For instance, the snorkeling at Champion Island happens to be one of the best around the archipelago. Champion is a rather small-satellite island not too far from the shores of Floreana.
As we were snorkeling, several species of colorful fish surrounded us, and even better than that, sharks, turtles and rays came to the encounter!
Our destination for the afternoon was a completely different location. Puerto Villamil is the name of a small town located in the southernmost side of Isabela Island. This is the area were a project involving the famous giant tortoises have been created and our guests had the chance to pay a visit to these facilities. Giant tortoises of all ages were found in this rearing center, mainly from the near by populations at “Volcan Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra.”
Next on the agenda was to visit the true wetland of the island, where luckily we found flamingoes! The bright color of these magnificent birds stand out anywhere, and it was of course easily to see them even if they were to be at a far distance which, once again luckily, was not the case today!
Today we visited the legendary Post Office Bay where long ago, the post office barrel was erected. This was a mailing system created to link the sailors that were working on board of the whaling ships and their families, wherever they might have been. The system has change quite a bit, and we decided to continue with the newer rules: drop postcards and pick up as many as you can!
Floreana happens to be known under the name of the enchanted island, partly because a lot of people had disappeared in its intricate land. The island indeed has been colonized several times, but very few times has the colonization has successful. Nowadays, Floreana has the smallest population of the entire Galápagos Islands.
But Floreana has too many wonderful things for us to be concentrated on its dark side, so we decided to stay on the “good side of the force” and enjoy it as much as possible.
For instance, the snorkeling at Champion Island happens to be one of the best around the archipelago. Champion is a rather small-satellite island not too far from the shores of Floreana.
As we were snorkeling, several species of colorful fish surrounded us, and even better than that, sharks, turtles and rays came to the encounter!
Our destination for the afternoon was a completely different location. Puerto Villamil is the name of a small town located in the southernmost side of Isabela Island. This is the area were a project involving the famous giant tortoises have been created and our guests had the chance to pay a visit to these facilities. Giant tortoises of all ages were found in this rearing center, mainly from the near by populations at “Volcan Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra.”
Next on the agenda was to visit the true wetland of the island, where luckily we found flamingoes! The bright color of these magnificent birds stand out anywhere, and it was of course easily to see them even if they were to be at a far distance which, once again luckily, was not the case today!
