Today we began our exploration quite early, the best time of day to enjoy nature. We are in Floreana, Punta Cormorant, home of a colony of greater flamingos.
We disembarked by wet landing on a green sand beach, formed by a volcanic crystal called olivine, and began our walk towards the lagoon. Along the way, we saw the typical dry vegetation of these islands, palo santo, scalesia, and Floreana’s daisies. We arrived to the lagoon, and there we saw several adult flamingoes, and a few chicks in the distance. It is not often that we have this lovely and sweet opportunity, because there are not many of these birds in Galapagos, since there are few lagoons with the right conditions for them.
Back onboard, we enjoyed an energizing breakfast and prepared for the afternoon’s program.
Champion is a small islet that is home to many seabirds species as well as land birds. We went for Zodiac rides around the coast, where we saw many birds including red-billed tropicbirds, pelicans, and Galapagos shearwaters. Afterwards we had the option to snorkel, and of course, we also offered the option to go for a ride in our glass-bottom boat—a great way to explore the underwater realm while staying dry!
During lunchtime, the National Geographic Endeavour II navigated for about an hour to go to Post Office Bay, a place loaded of human history. Here we had the opportunity to take part in the ancient mail system that was developed here by the first whalers over a hundred years ago. Our guests went through the mail barrel looking for postcards that they could hand deliver, and left postcards hoping that future visitors might hand deliver them.
After our visit to the post office barrel, our guests had the opportunity to kayak and paddle board in the protected bay, which houses many sea turtles as well as other marine life.
Our adventure continues tomorrow!
