It is our second day of voyaging around the Galapagos Islands, and today we visited Floreana.

We awoke to an incredibly clear sunrise, unusual for this time in the year. Our first excursion took place early in the morning, when we landed at the beach of Punta Cormorant. This beach is very different from any other that we visit, due to the presence of olivine, a semi-precious crystal that makes the sand look green. Behind the disembarkation point is a small lagoon where flamingos wander in search of tiny crustaceans that form a large part of their diet. At the end of the trail, there is a white-sand beach known as Cormorant Beach, which consists of a very important nesting site for the green sea turtles that live all around in the archipelago. The shore is surrounded by very shallow waters and almost constant waves, which are used by stingrays to escape from their predators like sharks.

Later National Geographic Endeavour navigated to an offshore islet called Champion. This is one of the two islets in the world where a handful of Floreana mockingbirds are still found. We loaded our Zodiacs to explore its coast, full of seabirds, cacti and sea lions. Later in the afternoon, we returned to the islet for water activities. The snorkeling at this site is outstanding, allowing us to see thousands of fish that are only found here. We also offered the option of rides on the glass-bottom boat, for those who preferred to explore the underwater realm without getting wet.

In the afternoon we moved to the third and final site of the day, Post Office Bay. Since the 18th century, this place has been used as an unofficial post office, started by whalers who left letters here, hoping that the next sailors to come through would hand carry the correspondence back home to their loved ones. This custom is still practiced today, and we visited this famous place to see what other ships and their visitors had left in the post office barrel, while also dropping off some of our own letters to continue the tradition.

To end the day, we cruised along the coast with our Zodiacs, while some of our guests explored by kayaks. Sea turtles, sharks, rays and even a hungry penguin entertained us for the rest of the day.

We cannot wait to see what tomorrow will bring!