Floreana Island
Today we explored Santa Maria (called Floreana) and its surroundings by land and sea: panga; kayak; snorkeling and hiking trail. The morning began with a stroll to the “post office,” a barrel maintained by the Park Service in the same spot where one has stood since whaling days. The tradition is to place letters and cards in the barrel - no postage needed; each visiting party takes those that they can deliver in their home areas, anywhere in the world. We took those we could and left our own. Darwin in the same place sent packets to his family, and I have one to deliver to Solon, Ohio!
In the morning many of us went to deep-water snorkel, and were dropped off Zodiacs into rough, clear water: straight into a school of razor-surgeons, grey with acid-lemon tails, plus hundred or thousands of other fish. We saw rays, sea stars on the bottom, and an underwater cave of sharks. This was off the little volcanic cone of Champion Island, where frigate birds sailed far above and shearwaters dipped and skimmed the water. Baby sea lions and carnival-colored Sally Lightfoot crabs nestled, and nocturnal swallow-tailed gulls dozed in the nooks of lava rock. Later in the day we came back to Champion for three sightings of the Floreana mockingbird, extinct everywhere else on earth except these tiny islets off Floreana.
In the afternoon some went out for more deep-water exploration, some rested and some of us took off in kayaks for a little bay full of sea turtles. There were a lot of neophytes, but all went smoothly; there was no capsizing, and we returned for a beautiful walk on Floreana around a dusky lagoon studded with pink flamingos. This variety displays the most naturally occurring intense pink of any flamingo on Earth; we ended our outing with a stroll on a white sand beach.
Dinner was a barbecue on the top bow deck, the Sky Deck, which ended with the crew cutting the ship’s lights so we could observe the constellations. Rafael talked us through the circumference of the night sky, pointing out Inca names for the constellations. (For those of you in the northern hemisphere, Orion is now lying on his side, and is The Butterfly.)
This seemed like a day full of the best the Galápagos has to offer, but bittersweet since we only have one day left!
Today we explored Santa Maria (called Floreana) and its surroundings by land and sea: panga; kayak; snorkeling and hiking trail. The morning began with a stroll to the “post office,” a barrel maintained by the Park Service in the same spot where one has stood since whaling days. The tradition is to place letters and cards in the barrel - no postage needed; each visiting party takes those that they can deliver in their home areas, anywhere in the world. We took those we could and left our own. Darwin in the same place sent packets to his family, and I have one to deliver to Solon, Ohio!
In the morning many of us went to deep-water snorkel, and were dropped off Zodiacs into rough, clear water: straight into a school of razor-surgeons, grey with acid-lemon tails, plus hundred or thousands of other fish. We saw rays, sea stars on the bottom, and an underwater cave of sharks. This was off the little volcanic cone of Champion Island, where frigate birds sailed far above and shearwaters dipped and skimmed the water. Baby sea lions and carnival-colored Sally Lightfoot crabs nestled, and nocturnal swallow-tailed gulls dozed in the nooks of lava rock. Later in the day we came back to Champion for three sightings of the Floreana mockingbird, extinct everywhere else on earth except these tiny islets off Floreana.
In the afternoon some went out for more deep-water exploration, some rested and some of us took off in kayaks for a little bay full of sea turtles. There were a lot of neophytes, but all went smoothly; there was no capsizing, and we returned for a beautiful walk on Floreana around a dusky lagoon studded with pink flamingos. This variety displays the most naturally occurring intense pink of any flamingo on Earth; we ended our outing with a stroll on a white sand beach.
Dinner was a barbecue on the top bow deck, the Sky Deck, which ended with the crew cutting the ship’s lights so we could observe the constellations. Rafael talked us through the circumference of the night sky, pointing out Inca names for the constellations. (For those of you in the northern hemisphere, Orion is now lying on his side, and is The Butterfly.)
This seemed like a day full of the best the Galápagos has to offer, but bittersweet since we only have one day left!
