Floreana, also known as Charles Island or the Island of the Thousand Volcanoes, is one of the older islands located on the southern part of the Galapagos archipelago. Darwin visited Floreana in 1835 and the observation of the unique Floreana mocking bird brought him closer to his theories of the evolution of living organisms. This morning we had an early outing before breakfast, disembarking at Punta Cormorant.  We walked along the green sandy beach coming very close to blue footed boobies—one male was dancing, trying to get the attention of the females, another one was nesting, and others were flying up in the sky, trying to get the first meal of the day. The temperature was lovely as we headed further inland, passing by a brackish water lagoon where we observed several greater flamingoes. The landscape at this visitor site is just breathtaking! There are thousands of colors and contrasts, making for great landscape pictures. On the white sandy beach, there was evidence of Pacific green sea turtles nests.

We came back on board for a well-deserved breakfast, and soon the National Geographic Endeavour sailed to the next destination: Champion Islet.  Several activities were offered in the afternoon, including Zodiac rides, glass-bottom boat outings and deep water snorkeling. Champion is a great snorkeling site and today was especially awesome, with a symphony of creole fish, king angels, grunts and parrotfish among many others, as well as playful Galapagos sea lions and white tipped-reef sharks. The conditions were just perfect for all the excursion options, and our guests enjoyed their activities.

We sailed again after lunch towards Post Office Bay, which is a historic site. Since the eighteen century, mail and postcards have been left by sailors to be hand delivered by subsequent visitors, and today our guests kept the tradition alive as many postcards were taken from the barrel. There was an opportunity for kayaking and an amazing Zodiac ride where we saw blue-footed boobies, Pacific green sea turtles, sea lions, cattle egrets, a great blue heron nesting and a Galapagos penguin! It was a great day, full of activities, a gentle breeze kept the temperatures cool, even as the sun was our companion throughout the whole day, bringing out the best of the colors for our pictures. Galapagos is an extraordinary place, it was indeed another great day in paradise!