Floreana Island
And we are off again! Another day in paradise! Our band of R Family adventurers got up early this morning (6:30!) so that we could make a wet landing on the brown beach of Floreana Island where the Post Office Barrel sits, awaiting traveler’s postcards and letters. The old mail swap tradition goes back to the whaling days. Jane took a post card from the barrel for Minnetonka, Minnesota, to deliver by hand; Colleen took several cards to deliver to Ireland; and Maryann and Peter seemed to take cards for all of Europe! Between us all we will be delivering a multitude of mail over the next few weeks. We all dropped our own cards in the barrel after a bone stamp. Our ship’s jester, Michael Lee, left a riotous postcard for the Olivia girls, guests on the upcoming week’s Lindblad expedition.
While we digested yet another hearty breakfast, the ship repositioned to a small offshore volcanic cone named Champion Island. This is the only island where a small population of the Floreana Mockingbird still exists – we saw them! By 10am we set sail in our pangas for snorkeling, as we are not allowed to make a landing on Champion. Some snorkeled the deep waters and others snorkeled a breathtakingly beautiful and calm bay. In the bay a dozen or more tiny baby sea lions lay among the shore rocks calling to their protective parents.
We swam with sea lions, sea turtles, lobsters and thousands of surgeonfish in the crystal clear water. Also, we saw red-billed tropic birds above us, bright yellow parrotfish and black tipped reef sharks that glided below us as we circled Champion Island.
Once back on our ship, we enjoyed paella and mousse de maracuya (passion fruit mousse!), then back to the waters around Floreana in the afternoon for kayaking. Even the kids went out today for kayaking as the waters were calm. We spied penguins and blue-footed boobies on the rocks and large bull sea lions honking their warnings. There seemed to be a penguin race beneath our kayaks at times.
Later in the afternoon (yes, this is all in the same day), we disembarked on a greenish olivine beach at Punta Cormorant on Floreana for a walk along a cindery trail, which took us to a beach of incredible fine white sand. We passed flamingos in a lagoon and an introduced brown goat along the way. Green sea turtles were mating on the surf while we watched the sun set behind the rolling hills. Incredible colors! Flying overhead were a hawk moth and Franklin gulls (which Franklin, our naturalist, pointed out). The kids ran through the waves playing with sea lions while avoiding the bull, which barked the kids right out of the water.
Back on the Islander, we ended our amazing day with a BBQ on deck. We all wore sarongs which some of us had to duct tape to hold up! Eating fine food, dancing with the staff and watching the sea lions catch flying fish in the lights off the side of the ship. Can there be a more perfect way to spend a warm, starlit evening with new friends!RFV06
And we are off again! Another day in paradise! Our band of R Family adventurers got up early this morning (6:30!) so that we could make a wet landing on the brown beach of Floreana Island where the Post Office Barrel sits, awaiting traveler’s postcards and letters. The old mail swap tradition goes back to the whaling days. Jane took a post card from the barrel for Minnetonka, Minnesota, to deliver by hand; Colleen took several cards to deliver to Ireland; and Maryann and Peter seemed to take cards for all of Europe! Between us all we will be delivering a multitude of mail over the next few weeks. We all dropped our own cards in the barrel after a bone stamp. Our ship’s jester, Michael Lee, left a riotous postcard for the Olivia girls, guests on the upcoming week’s Lindblad expedition.
While we digested yet another hearty breakfast, the ship repositioned to a small offshore volcanic cone named Champion Island. This is the only island where a small population of the Floreana Mockingbird still exists – we saw them! By 10am we set sail in our pangas for snorkeling, as we are not allowed to make a landing on Champion. Some snorkeled the deep waters and others snorkeled a breathtakingly beautiful and calm bay. In the bay a dozen or more tiny baby sea lions lay among the shore rocks calling to their protective parents.
We swam with sea lions, sea turtles, lobsters and thousands of surgeonfish in the crystal clear water. Also, we saw red-billed tropic birds above us, bright yellow parrotfish and black tipped reef sharks that glided below us as we circled Champion Island.
Once back on our ship, we enjoyed paella and mousse de maracuya (passion fruit mousse!), then back to the waters around Floreana in the afternoon for kayaking. Even the kids went out today for kayaking as the waters were calm. We spied penguins and blue-footed boobies on the rocks and large bull sea lions honking their warnings. There seemed to be a penguin race beneath our kayaks at times.
Later in the afternoon (yes, this is all in the same day), we disembarked on a greenish olivine beach at Punta Cormorant on Floreana for a walk along a cindery trail, which took us to a beach of incredible fine white sand. We passed flamingos in a lagoon and an introduced brown goat along the way. Green sea turtles were mating on the surf while we watched the sun set behind the rolling hills. Incredible colors! Flying overhead were a hawk moth and Franklin gulls (which Franklin, our naturalist, pointed out). The kids ran through the waves playing with sea lions while avoiding the bull, which barked the kids right out of the water.
Back on the Islander, we ended our amazing day with a BBQ on deck. We all wore sarongs which some of us had to duct tape to hold up! Eating fine food, dancing with the staff and watching the sea lions catch flying fish in the lights off the side of the ship. Can there be a more perfect way to spend a warm, starlit evening with new friends!RFV06
