Floreana Island
Today, following Charles Darwin’s footsteps, we arrived at Floreana Island. Early in the morning we visited Post Office Bay. At this historical site the highlight was the chance to drop some postcards in the post office barrel and then take a few in order to hand deliver them. Just as whalers and buccaneers did in the past centuries we continued with this tradition. Post Office Bay happens to be the oldest known mailing system in the South Pacific.
After breakfast the National Geographic Islander was repositioned to an islet off the northern side of Floreana, Champion. As this small islet is in the middle of the open ocean it is bathed by strong currents full of plankton. The latter statement is the main reason Champion Islet is one of the best snorkeling spots in Galápagos. There are large colonies of seabirds on the islet as well. There is a rare species of mockingbird that is endemic just to this area, the Floreana Mockingbird. We lowered our fleet of Zodiacs for a coastal exploration around the islet. Several nesting red-billed tropic birds were seen as well as Galápagos shearwaters and juvenile Galápagos sea lions being nursed. The deep water snorkeling at this site is amazing. Today there were so many varieties of fish; most of them were seen feeding. We spotted a big marbled ray that was resting on the bottom as well.
In the afternoon our guests were offered kayaking and a hike to explore Punta Cormorant. Kayaking offered us the chance to see the island from a very different perspective, with a little bit of freedom to have our own personal encounter with nature. The hike at Punta Cormorant took us from an inorganic brown green sandy beach to a white coralline organic beach, which was a great contrast. Among other things we found were the nesting territory of sea turtles, frigate birds looking for hatchlings, sting rays, and many waders feeding.
At the end of our daily expedition we all returned to National Geographic Islander. It was a great surprise for all to find a juvenile Galápagos sea lion sleeping on the stern of the ship. It seemed to be cozy for he found a comfortable mattress. The latest sighting is a fantastic example of how the wildlife of the islands can coexist with humans in harmony.
