Floreana Island
Today, our island of destination is Floreana, the mystery island of the archipelago. And it is the mystery island because of all the unsolved events and disappearances that have occurred throughout its rich human history. Floreana was also the very first island to be inhabited by humans, and it is nowadays the one with the smallest population out of the four colonized islands of the archipelago, with approximately eighty settlers.
We started our day very early, with a short visit to the famous post office barrel, placed and initiated during the whaling era in the islands and known to be the oldest post office on this side of the Pacific. After leaving our postcards in the hope to have them delivered in a short time by another visitor to this place, we returned to National Geographic Polaris for breakfast and to get ready for our next activities of the day: snorkeling around Champion islet. The snorkeling was a wonderful opportunity to observe schools of Razor surgeon fishes, King angelfish amongst others. Not everybody wanted to jump in, as the Galápagos waters are still cold due to the current season, so many joined a ride on the glass bottom boat. The relatively clear waters allowed us to appreciate many species of fish, sea stars and marine invertebrates. We could not leave Champion islet without searching for the Floreana mockingbird, of which there are approximately two dozen on this islet. Numbers of this endemic mockingbird have dropped severely on the big island of Floreana due to predation by introduced feral cats, but Champion islet is a safe-haven for this small population, isolated by a stretch of sea.
In the afternoon, we had time to relax on the beach of Punta Cormorant, situated in the northern tip of Floreana. Some preferred to practice some kayaking along this bay. Kayaking is definitely a success this week! Our very pleasant walk started on the unusual olivine beach, and we continued inland towards a second beach, not before stopping by the flamingo lagoon, to admire this beautiful species that doesn’t seem to match the arid and dry scenery around. The Greater flamingo is a native, resident species of Galápagos that may have originated from a more tropical environment, i.e. the Caribbean. At the end of the trail we discovered the ‘flour’ beach, with blue waters and white sands. This beautiful beach is a favorite nesting site for the Pacific green sea turtles, of which we saw many just behind the surf, sharing the bay with some white-tipped reef sharks, eagle rays and sting rays. What an end to a wonderful day! We can’t wait to start the adventures of tomorrow.
Today, our island of destination is Floreana, the mystery island of the archipelago. And it is the mystery island because of all the unsolved events and disappearances that have occurred throughout its rich human history. Floreana was also the very first island to be inhabited by humans, and it is nowadays the one with the smallest population out of the four colonized islands of the archipelago, with approximately eighty settlers.
We started our day very early, with a short visit to the famous post office barrel, placed and initiated during the whaling era in the islands and known to be the oldest post office on this side of the Pacific. After leaving our postcards in the hope to have them delivered in a short time by another visitor to this place, we returned to National Geographic Polaris for breakfast and to get ready for our next activities of the day: snorkeling around Champion islet. The snorkeling was a wonderful opportunity to observe schools of Razor surgeon fishes, King angelfish amongst others. Not everybody wanted to jump in, as the Galápagos waters are still cold due to the current season, so many joined a ride on the glass bottom boat. The relatively clear waters allowed us to appreciate many species of fish, sea stars and marine invertebrates. We could not leave Champion islet without searching for the Floreana mockingbird, of which there are approximately two dozen on this islet. Numbers of this endemic mockingbird have dropped severely on the big island of Floreana due to predation by introduced feral cats, but Champion islet is a safe-haven for this small population, isolated by a stretch of sea.
In the afternoon, we had time to relax on the beach of Punta Cormorant, situated in the northern tip of Floreana. Some preferred to practice some kayaking along this bay. Kayaking is definitely a success this week! Our very pleasant walk started on the unusual olivine beach, and we continued inland towards a second beach, not before stopping by the flamingo lagoon, to admire this beautiful species that doesn’t seem to match the arid and dry scenery around. The Greater flamingo is a native, resident species of Galápagos that may have originated from a more tropical environment, i.e. the Caribbean. At the end of the trail we discovered the ‘flour’ beach, with blue waters and white sands. This beautiful beach is a favorite nesting site for the Pacific green sea turtles, of which we saw many just behind the surf, sharing the bay with some white-tipped reef sharks, eagle rays and sting rays. What an end to a wonderful day! We can’t wait to start the adventures of tomorrow.
