Floreana
Such a nice looking beach is the one where Post Office Barrel is found. Who would think that in the 18th century pirates, buccaneers and whalers came by, all of them wildly adventurous people, and here we are, just to continue with what nowadays is a tradition – leave a post card, take a post card and hand deliver it.
And the day has begun. After this early outing, we got back for breakfast while the ship was navigating to our next destination. Champion Islet, a little rock with a life buoyancy in and out of water, is very protected so we can just go around it either by panga or snorkeling.
While in the water we got a look at a lot of fishes. All of them originally came from different parts of the Pacific Ocean. Right after, some who did not get in the water had the opportunity to see some of it from the glass bottom boat, and later do the ride looking for marine birds as well as land ones and of course the Galápagos sea lions. All this plus the beautiful shape of this volcanic tuff cone made this half day a success.
Punta Cormorant, still part of Floreana was the next stop. We had a wet landing on a green sand beach. We needed to pass the beach’s vegetation to see the pink flamingoes. At first sight, these beautiful birds also tell us the natural history of the islands. A couple of million years ago they came from the Caribbean and have survived in this hostile environment.
Just a few minutes later we arrived to another beach. This time, the sand was white and soft like flour. Where this sand came from is another story to tell. Surrounded by volcanic formations, this organic beach is a turtle nesting site. We see the ditches, hoping to see a hatchling leaving towards the beach.
The day came to an end and the sunset changed the landscape colors. We must go back to the National Geographic Endeavour, looking forward to the next day.
