Floreana Island
Today we started very early in the morning; our first outing was in one of the most mysterious sites of Floreana Island, Post office Bay. Here in 1793, a whaler erected a barrel for people to deliver their mail; that was the only way to keep in touch with the world. Today, the barrel is used only by tourists to send post cards without stamps; they have to be hand delivered.
Floreana was one of the first inhabited Islands in the Galápagos. In 1929 a German couple, Dr. Friedrich Ritter and Dore Strauch decided to move to this isolated Island to settle 600 nautical miles off the nearest land mass. Then another family arrived to this little Island: the Wittmers, and then the famous Baroness Eloise Wagner Bousquet arrived. To make this long history short, she disappeared with one of her lovers and nobody knows what happened to them. Dr. Ritter ate boiled chicken, even though he was a vegetarian. Today only the Wittmer family still lives on Floreana Island.
Then we came back to the Polaris, and we sailed to our next site, Champion Islet, where we had the opportunity to enjoy swimming with sea lions and colorful fish. After that we came back to the ship where hot chocolate was waiting for us.
Our next outing was a Zodiac ride to try to spot the very rare Charles mockingbird, red-billed tropic birds, brown noddy terns, shearwaters and more. Then we came back to our home to have a delicious lunch to recover our energy, because we had lots to do in the afternoon.
After a siesta, we were ready to go for our second snorkeling outing around Devil’s Crown; then we landed on a green sandy beach, with olivine volcanic crystals. Here we saw greater flamingoes in a very calm brackish water lagoon.
It is a quarter to six and we have to come back to the Polaris; another fascinating day is coming to an end.
Today we started very early in the morning; our first outing was in one of the most mysterious sites of Floreana Island, Post office Bay. Here in 1793, a whaler erected a barrel for people to deliver their mail; that was the only way to keep in touch with the world. Today, the barrel is used only by tourists to send post cards without stamps; they have to be hand delivered.
Floreana was one of the first inhabited Islands in the Galápagos. In 1929 a German couple, Dr. Friedrich Ritter and Dore Strauch decided to move to this isolated Island to settle 600 nautical miles off the nearest land mass. Then another family arrived to this little Island: the Wittmers, and then the famous Baroness Eloise Wagner Bousquet arrived. To make this long history short, she disappeared with one of her lovers and nobody knows what happened to them. Dr. Ritter ate boiled chicken, even though he was a vegetarian. Today only the Wittmer family still lives on Floreana Island.
Then we came back to the Polaris, and we sailed to our next site, Champion Islet, where we had the opportunity to enjoy swimming with sea lions and colorful fish. After that we came back to the ship where hot chocolate was waiting for us.
Our next outing was a Zodiac ride to try to spot the very rare Charles mockingbird, red-billed tropic birds, brown noddy terns, shearwaters and more. Then we came back to our home to have a delicious lunch to recover our energy, because we had lots to do in the afternoon.
After a siesta, we were ready to go for our second snorkeling outing around Devil’s Crown; then we landed on a green sandy beach, with olivine volcanic crystals. Here we saw greater flamingoes in a very calm brackish water lagoon.
It is a quarter to six and we have to come back to the Polaris; another fascinating day is coming to an end.
