Floreana and Isabela Island
Indeed, it’s been another day in paradise!
The legendary post office barrel brings us memories of bygone years. During the whaling centuries this humble looking place became the most visited for several reasons. The island of Floreana was at that time the only place in the archipelago to link seafarers to their families back in England, additionally these visitors found giant tortoises and fresh water that were vital elements to survive a long overseas voyage in search of whales. Today modern visitors keep the tradition of these early voyagers, leaving letters and postcards that eventually some Galápagos travelers will pick up and deliver to their final destinations.
Moments later we anchored right next to Champion islet off Floreana Island and soon we disembarked and headed to one of the most spectacular snorkeling sites of the entire Galápagos. The diversity and numbers of organisms are dazzling from the very moment you enter the water. The colors of the fish, their sizes and the amazing behavior are remarkable, a place that you’ll never forget.
Our second part of the expedition was going to be on Isabela. As we moved to this beautiful island we encountered a pod of dolphins that delighted us with their spectacular bow rides and acrobatics while everyone, camera in hand, took pictures of these ever-charming marine mammals.
Later on we arrived at Isabela, the second largest island of the archipelago. Our destination was Puerto Villamil, a little village located at the foot of an active volcano that a little over a year ago erupted for several days. Here you get the real feeling of being on an island, in a fishing village with lots of palm trees and dirt roads with a white sandy beach right in front of it. The island has as a major attraction the wetlands and giant tortoise breeding center. The wetlands is a great place to do bird watching and see birds like flamingos, pintail ducks, ruddy turnstones and the highlight of the day was the common stilts with tiny chicks probably less than three days old wading in the brackish lagoon.
The Galápagos National Park carries out a breeding program with the giant tortoises from the five volcanoes of Isabela. These populations are still at the brink of extinction, due to human related activities such as hunting and introducing foreign species, and natural events like volcanoes erupting and fires produced by the streams of lava.
Indeed, it’s been another day in paradise!
The legendary post office barrel brings us memories of bygone years. During the whaling centuries this humble looking place became the most visited for several reasons. The island of Floreana was at that time the only place in the archipelago to link seafarers to their families back in England, additionally these visitors found giant tortoises and fresh water that were vital elements to survive a long overseas voyage in search of whales. Today modern visitors keep the tradition of these early voyagers, leaving letters and postcards that eventually some Galápagos travelers will pick up and deliver to their final destinations.
Moments later we anchored right next to Champion islet off Floreana Island and soon we disembarked and headed to one of the most spectacular snorkeling sites of the entire Galápagos. The diversity and numbers of organisms are dazzling from the very moment you enter the water. The colors of the fish, their sizes and the amazing behavior are remarkable, a place that you’ll never forget.
Our second part of the expedition was going to be on Isabela. As we moved to this beautiful island we encountered a pod of dolphins that delighted us with their spectacular bow rides and acrobatics while everyone, camera in hand, took pictures of these ever-charming marine mammals.
Later on we arrived at Isabela, the second largest island of the archipelago. Our destination was Puerto Villamil, a little village located at the foot of an active volcano that a little over a year ago erupted for several days. Here you get the real feeling of being on an island, in a fishing village with lots of palm trees and dirt roads with a white sandy beach right in front of it. The island has as a major attraction the wetlands and giant tortoise breeding center. The wetlands is a great place to do bird watching and see birds like flamingos, pintail ducks, ruddy turnstones and the highlight of the day was the common stilts with tiny chicks probably less than three days old wading in the brackish lagoon.
The Galápagos National Park carries out a breeding program with the giant tortoises from the five volcanoes of Isabela. These populations are still at the brink of extinction, due to human related activities such as hunting and introducing foreign species, and natural events like volcanoes erupting and fires produced by the streams of lava.
