Today’s expedition began early in the morning with a visit to Floreana, one of the most historic Islands of the archipelago. The best way to begin our exploration was to take a pre-breakfast hike to Punta Cormorant. After a comfortable wet landing on a spectacular inorganic sand beach, the marvels of the place were shown to our senses. The greenish color of the sand was the prefect natural decoration for a fantastic view of the bay. Farther into the trail, a spectacular symphony of colors was displayed by greater flamingos in a brackish water lagoon.
Once we reached the other side of the isthmus, we enjoyed a magical view of white combined with black lava rocks and orange Sally Lightfoot crabs. As soon as we came back onboard the National Geographic Endeavour, we started navigating to our next destination: Champion Islet. Home to seabirds, the islet is also a fish sanctuary. Champion is one of the iconic snorkeling places in the Islands. A delightful Zodiac ride along the coastal zone of Champion Islet was the best way to begin exploration. Once we started exploring the coast of the islet, Galápagos sea lions playfully bit the edges of the Zodiacs. As soon as we reached the cliff area, we enjoyed the presence of many seabirds that found the cliffs to be a perfect nesting spot. At the end of the activity, we finally had the opportunity of sighting one of the rarest birds of the Galápagos: the Floreana mockingbird. Next, we got ready for deepwater snorkeling. As we came into the water, the marvels of the Galápagos Marine Reserve were revealed to us: colorful reef fishes of different species were swimming all over the place and white-tipped reef sharks swam from rock to rock, but the most emblematic of all were definitely the Galápagos sea lions that showed us their swimming skills as they came very close to us.
In the afternoon, we visited one of the most historic places in the Galápagos: Post Office Bay. After a wet landing on a marvelous white sand beach, we continued one of the oldest Galápagos traditions by exchanging postcards with those ones left inside the barrel by previous guests. Later in the afternoon, we had a superb experience by exploring the coastal area of Post Office Bay in a delightful Zodiac ride. At the end of exploration, we had a charming gift from Mother Nature as the sun set on the horizon. There was no better ending for a marvelous journey to the living paradise of the Galápagos Islands.
