My favorite time of the day for a walk is the early morning. The fresh air enveloped us as we landed at Punta Cormorant, the calm sea leading us gently up onto the sand, another part of this amazing experience on the Galapagos Islands. Blue-footed boobies welcomed us with their mating dance, male boobies trying to get the attention of females, who feigned indifference.
The most exciting part of the day was a sighting of flamingos in a brackish water lagoon. Their pink color stands out against the grey landscape. In order to find food in the silt at the bottom of the lagoon, the flamingoes will swing their necks from right to left—they have a sonar in their bills, which helps them to detect organisms like small pink shrimps and larvae of coleoptera and diptera. This colorful lagoon-birds feed for seven to twelve hours a day. The resident population is estimated at six hundred individuals in the archipelago.
Later in the morning, we all enjoyed a Zodiac ride around Champion Islet, looking for the Floreana mockingbird. Not only did we spot several mockingbirds, but we also found several different species of sea birds that nest on the cliffs: terns, swallow-tailed gulls, petrels, and also the Nazca and blue-footed boobies.
Afterward our exciting Zodiac ride, we had the chance to go snorkeling, and playing with young sea lions was the best part of this water activity. The experience of being so close to these extraordinary animals is amazing, and it cannot be compared to anything else.
The day ended with a visit to the well-known Post Office barrel, where a few guests dropped off their postcards, hoping that these will be delivered to their destination by the next set of visitors that pass through here. Others did pick up a few to hand-deliver themselves, continuing a tradition that has been around for hundreds of years.
