We are into our second day of our expedition in the Enchanted Isles, and as the sun rises we were able to spot hilly Floreana, one of the southern islands. Early in the morning we set off to visit Punta Cormorant, and we landed at what is known as the ‘olivine beach.’ Its sands are composed of miniature grains of a volcanic crystal which give it a greenish tinge. Behind it lies a large, brackish lagoon where some greater flamingos were feeding in the distance. We followed an easy trail that crossed a dry area full of incense trees and dry bushes, a typical scene of the arid zone in the Galapagos. At the end we found another beach that had white sands instead, this is one of the important nesting sites for the Eastern Pacific green sea turtle. Females rise up the sand dunes to find a nesting spot, having to work all night to lay around one hundred eggs, and then leave by the early hours of the morning.
A little later on we had finished our breakfast and were preparing for our next activities. Northern Floreana is an area of great beauty, with small satellite islets where much wildlife can be found. We set off in our Zodiacs to ride along the coast of Champion Islet, which provides the perfect home to several endemic and native species, particularly the Floreana mockingbird, already extinct in the big island but present here. Along the walls of Champion we could observe swallow-tailed gulls, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, brown noddies and red-billed tropic birds. We couldn’t wait to jump in the turquoise-blue waters of Champion in order to swim and play with the ever curious Galapagos sea lions; many of their pups were quite daring and extremely playful and approached the snorkelers with no fear.
In the afternoon we moved westward to a different location. Not far is Post Office Bay, where once young naturalist Charles Darwin disembarked when he visited Floreana Island in 1835. This is the place where a barrel has functioned as a ‘post office’ in a very traditional way, and nowadays visitors are still able to drop off postcards without any stamps. They also take some along with them to be hand-delivered to their rightful addressees. Nearby is a set of flat, rocky islets called La Loberia, inhabited by dozens of Galapagos sea lions of various ages. The quiet waters of La Loberia are also the perfect place for the exhausted sea turtles to come and rest without fear of predation or strong currents.
As we returned to our ship, the sun began to set over a hill known in the charts as ‘Daylight Point.’ What a perfect way to end a magnificent day, full of excitement and adventures here, in the Galapagos Islands.
