Floreana Island
The expedition today began early in the morning as we visited one of the most historical Islands of the archipelago: Floreana. The best way to begin our exploration was to take a pre-breakfast hike to Punta Cormorant. After a comfortable wet landing on a spectacular inorganic sand beach, the marvels of the place were shown to our senses. The greenish color of the sand was the prefect natural setting for a fantastic view of the bay. Farther into the trail, a natural symphony of songs was played by the various land birds found in the area: small ground finches, yellow warblers, and curious Galápagos flycatchers.
Once we reached the other side of the isthmus, we enjoyed a magical view of white sand combined with black lava rocks and Sally Lightfoot crabs. As soon as we came back on board the National Geographic Endeavour, we started navigating to our next destination: Champion Islet. Home to seabirds and sanctuary of fish, Champion is one of the iconic snorkeling places of the islands. Once we arrived, we got everything ready for deep-water snorkeling. As we came into the water, the marvels of the Galápagos Marine Reserve were revealed to us: colorful reef fishes of different species were swimming all over the place and white-tipped reef sharks swam from rock to rock. But the most emblematic of all were definitely the Galápagos sea lions that showed us their swimming skills as they came very close to us.
Then it was time to enjoy a delightful Zodiac ride along the coastal zone of Champion Islet. Once we started exploring the coast of the islet, Galápagos sea lions looked very playful as they nipped at the edges of the Zodiacs. As soon as we reached the cliff area, we enjoyed the presence of a lot of seabirds that found the cliffs the perfect nesting spot. At the end of our ride, we finally had the opportunity of sighting one of the rarest birds of the Galápagos: the Floreana mockingbird.
In the afternoon we visited one of the most historical places of the Galápagos: Post Office Bay. After a wet landing on a marvelous white sand beach, we continued with one of the oldest Galápagos traditions by exchanging postcards with those left behind by previous visitors inside the postal barrel. Later in the afternoon, we had a superb experience exploring the coastal area of Post Office Bay in a Zodiac ride.
At the end of our day of exploration, we had a charming gift from Mother Nature, as the sun set behind the horizon. There was no better ending for a marvelous journey in the living paradise of the Galápagos Islands.
