Punta Cormorant and Post Office Bay
Around 6:30 a.m. we disembarked on Punta Cormorant, a place known for flamingos. This morning we were very fortunate, as we saw at least twenty of them, the sunlight reflected on their very pink feathers while we were captivated by their movements while feeding on shrimp and others small crustaceans. It was luck to encounter them, as we have not seen these birds in a while. The population is well distributed around the islands on some brackish water ponds where they can find food. We also found yellow crowned herons and common stilts looking for food around the intertidal zone on the lagoon.
For me, this experience was very special because some young girls from a high school on San Cristobal Island, one of the inhabited places, were onboard with us. They won a contest that enabled them to come on the expedition with us. I’m proud that our company gives back to Galapagos and its people through programs like this; it gives local people the opportunity to learn more about the islands. There was a moment when one girl said, “I have never seen a flamingo in my entire life, it is so close, it seems a dream.” About 70% of the people living in the Galapagos do not know all the islands, or have only seen a few of them. For this 16 year old girl, it was her first experience of traveling around the place she was born.
During our walk we also enjoyed listening to finches singing all around us, it is incredible how fast vegetation became so grey. It is not raining anymore and the majority of the trees are dormant now. As we finished our walk, we returned aboard for breakfast and in the second part of our morning we went to Champion Islet. There, we snorkeled and Galapagos sea lions came to play with us. Some of us went on our glass bottom boat to see many different species of fishes and others went on a Zodiac ride and went along the coast of Champion Islet, where we found lots of sea lions, and several species of sea birds such as brown pelicans, Nazca boobies, blue footed boobies, and red billed tropic birds. It was a very rewarding morning, we saw all kinds of wildlife – both land and marine life.
Later, we went to Post Office Bay. There we went kayaking and on a Zodiac ride along the coast of a place known as “Loberia” where Galapagos sea lions have a large colony. In addition to sea lions, we also saw colorful Galapagos marine iguanas, great blue herons, boobies, green sea turtles and one Galapagos penguin basking on the black lava that form the islands.
We also went to deliver some mail to the wooden barrel of Post Office Bay. We followed the ancient whaler’s tradition and also took some letters to hand deliver once arriving at home. This is perhaps the oldest mailing system on this side of the Pacific. It is also a very good and fun tradition. Later, we said goodbye to mysterious Floreana Island.
