Floreana Island
Floreana Island is the very first island ever inhabited by human beings in the archipelago. The human history of the Galápagos Islands and its early settlers is as fantastic and fascinating as its natural history. Before 1832 there were no human settlements on the islands. It was only in this year when the Ecuadorian government started to send colonizers down here to establish sovereignty. Floreana Island was very much visited by pirates, buccaneers and whalers during the sixteen, seventeen and eighteen hundreds. All these previous visitors came to Floreana Island to take tortoises away and look for fresh water. Captain James Colnett established in 1793 the first mailing system around the Southern Pacific. A wine barrel was placed at Post Office Bay in Floreana Island and it is still used nowadays. With an early wake up call, we landed in the same beach that pirates and buccaneers did in the past. We continued with the tradition to deliver and pick up messages.
Our second outing in the morning was a bird watching Zodiac cruise around Champion islet. We came back onboard for our third outing of the morning. Before lunch we went to snorkel around the area. Snorkeling was fantastic. One guest commented that she felt immersed in a huge aquarium surrounded by colorful tropical fish. The highlights for the afternoon were the two kayak outings we had around the shores of Punta Cormorant and the pleasant walk along the shores of a nearby brackish lagoon that is home for greater flamingos. In this beach we found several interesting invertebrate species that caught the attention of their observers. Another lovely day in paradise!
Floreana Island is the very first island ever inhabited by human beings in the archipelago. The human history of the Galápagos Islands and its early settlers is as fantastic and fascinating as its natural history. Before 1832 there were no human settlements on the islands. It was only in this year when the Ecuadorian government started to send colonizers down here to establish sovereignty. Floreana Island was very much visited by pirates, buccaneers and whalers during the sixteen, seventeen and eighteen hundreds. All these previous visitors came to Floreana Island to take tortoises away and look for fresh water. Captain James Colnett established in 1793 the first mailing system around the Southern Pacific. A wine barrel was placed at Post Office Bay in Floreana Island and it is still used nowadays. With an early wake up call, we landed in the same beach that pirates and buccaneers did in the past. We continued with the tradition to deliver and pick up messages.
Our second outing in the morning was a bird watching Zodiac cruise around Champion islet. We came back onboard for our third outing of the morning. Before lunch we went to snorkel around the area. Snorkeling was fantastic. One guest commented that she felt immersed in a huge aquarium surrounded by colorful tropical fish. The highlights for the afternoon were the two kayak outings we had around the shores of Punta Cormorant and the pleasant walk along the shores of a nearby brackish lagoon that is home for greater flamingos. In this beach we found several interesting invertebrate species that caught the attention of their observers. Another lovely day in paradise!
