Every day is fun in the Galapagos Islands, but today was simply spectacular! Early in the morning, after we had dropped anchor in the north of Floreana, we left in our Zodiacs to disembark at Punta Cormorant. But before we set foot ashore, we were pleasantly surprised by the sight of six beautiful greater flamingos flying over the bay in circles, their bright pink coloration easily distinguishable in the morning light. Then we heard the typical call of some Galapagos penguins, which were already busy catching their small prey in the shallow waters of the beach. The landing beach is mainly composed of fine grains of olivine, a volcanic crystal. We continued behind the beach following the trail where we had views of a large brackish lagoon.
The island of Floreana is full of serene and beautiful landscapes, and most of it is covered by dry vegetation. At the far end of the trail we found yet another beach; here the sands are of an organic origin and they are so fine that they feel like flour. Every year Pacific green sea turtles come to this beach to lay their eggs, and today we were able to spot a few of them just drifting in the tide. As we returned back on board we heard our expedition leader announce that a pod of dolphins was nearby, so we decided to go and look for ourselves. It was a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins; they often come to these waters to feed, which they seemed to be doing at that moment. What a unique experience!
And this was all before breakfast. We had more activities planned for the remainder of the morning. First, we went for a Zodiac ride along the rocky shores of Champion Islet. This is an eroded cinder cone that is now the home to various Galapagos species, but one in particular drew our attention: the Champion mockingbird. Once abundant in the island of Floreana but now extinct there, tiny populations manage to survive in a few offshore islets. Champion Islet was full of life today, with a healthy population of Galapagos sea lions, as well as sea bird species like the red-billed tropic bird, Nazca and blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, Galapagos shearwaters and frigates. Then, it was time to explore the underwater world of Champion which is extremely rich, and we were so fortunate to have excellent visibility today. The snorkeling was spectacular, and we had the joy of playing with sea lions and observing sea turtles.
In the afternoon, we had many more activities. Some opted to do some kayaking and explore the beautiful area named La Loberia. This is a set of small islets and sand banks where mangroves grow together with prickly pear trees, and where a large colony of Galapagos sea lions lives. There were dozens of young pups, including a newborn. There was so much animal behavior to observe!
Because the waters here are shallow, many sea turtles come to this place to rest. We could see their heads rising above the water when the turtles gasped for air. Not far from this place is Post Office Bay, where the young naturalist Charles Darwin once disembarked together with Captain Fitzroy upon an invitation by a settler. We too disembarked here to visit the Post Office barrel, just behind the beach. Happy to oblige to the old tradition, we took some postcards, the ones that we could hand-deliver to their addressees, and left our own in the hope that they would reach their final destination from this remote spot, the oldest self-styled “post office” on this side of the Pacific Ocean.
