This morning we started with an early outing before breakfast while Floreana was covered by fog. We disembarked at Punta Cormorant, a great opportunity to observe an inorganic beach full of olivine crystals and small broken pieces of basalt. As we walked along the green beach we heard the amazing calls of the blue footed boobies! Indeed, there were several males advertising themselves and a lucky one was already joined by a female. It was awesome to see them so close, the color of their turquoise feet were just unbelievable. The males were dancing, showing off their feet which look like painted booties! With every single display, with every rock and twig that was uplifted and exchange, our guests were just delighted. At this visitor site, there was a brackish water lagoon where several flamingos were spotted and the famous Darwin finches were all around, singing and looking for seeds. We got back onboard for a well-deserved breakfast while the National Geographic Islander was repositioned toward Champion Islet.
Then we started to get ready for the next activity, a Zodiac ride. Champion Islet is home to the rare Floreana mocking bird and fortunately we got to see two of them as well as swallow-tailed gulls, brown Noddies, playful Galapagos sea lions, and huge prickly pear cacti. The morning was not over yet as a last outing was offered, deep water snorkeling! This is one of the most spectacular snorkeling sites in the Galapagos archipelago and our guests came back with big smiles! A lot of colorful fish along with sea lions, rays, white-tipped reef sharks, were found in these clear waters.
We repositioned the National Geographic Islander towards Post Office Bay. Our Expedition Leader Lynn Fowler gave a lecture about her research work on Galapagos giant tortoises held on Alcedo Volcano located at one of the younger islands of the archipelago, Isabela. After this interesting lecture we headed toward Post Office Bay, an historical site where our guests got to learn about whaler’s traditions, and the human history of the Galapagos. We searched inside a wooden barrel where other travelers left mail to be taken and hand delivered by travelers on their way back home. Many postcards were collected this afternoon, and we know the postcards will arrive sooner than expected! After that we got to explore the coast of this bay and some nearby islets where Galapagos sea lions live most of the year and green sea turtles come to rest. Some of us chose to kayak along the coast of Post Office Bay, enjoying the great weather conditions of the afternoon, while others decided to join a Zodiac ride.
It was a day full of activities and memorable experiences, another great day in paradise!
