Floreana Island
Before sunrise, after a rough night’s navigation, we anchored in Post Office Bay at Floreana Island. This island is my favorite, not only for its beautiful landscape but also because it has such an intriguing human history. Most of our guests joined us early this morning for a pre-breakfast landing and they were eager to see the famous barrel that for over two hundred years has been used to send and receive news from across the world. In modern days, of course, with technology mail is easier and faster, but for a little while this morning we imagined we were pirates or whalers and we used the old barrel for hand delivery of our mail.
After a delicious breakfast, we sailed to Champion islet, the last refuge of the Floreana mockingbird. We began with a panga ride around the islet. We were glad that we saw this rare and beautiful bird hidden among the cactus and singing happily beside a group of finches and swallow tailed gulls. Mockingbirds are extinct from Floreana where there are introduced cats and rats. Champion is small but safer for them. Near the end of our panga ride, a group of very playful sea lions appeared, inviting us to join them in the clear azure water. So, we willingly accepted! We returned to the ship, slipped into our wetsuits and came back.
The snorkeling was excellent! We saw schools of colorful tropical fish and watched boobies fishing with sea lions, almost working together. As we swam into a small calm bay the sea lions began to play with us. We repeated their movements, and they followed us. We swam with them for a long time; when we finally climbed into the Zodiacs they looked forlorn, as if disappointed that we were leaving.
In the afternoon, we had two rounds of kayaking and afterwards we landed at Punta Cormorant. This was an easy landing and walk, and a short distance behind the greenish brown beach we came to a pond where we found a group of flamingos. These beautiful pink birds were magnificent and we were fortunate to observe them from nearby. They share this salty lagoon with a group of pintail ducks. This afternoon we discussed the importance of Floreana in the history of Ecuador, and of course mentioned Dr. Ritter, Dora and Eloisa Von Wagner, this island’s early and celebrated inhabitants.
Before sunrise, after a rough night’s navigation, we anchored in Post Office Bay at Floreana Island. This island is my favorite, not only for its beautiful landscape but also because it has such an intriguing human history. Most of our guests joined us early this morning for a pre-breakfast landing and they were eager to see the famous barrel that for over two hundred years has been used to send and receive news from across the world. In modern days, of course, with technology mail is easier and faster, but for a little while this morning we imagined we were pirates or whalers and we used the old barrel for hand delivery of our mail.
After a delicious breakfast, we sailed to Champion islet, the last refuge of the Floreana mockingbird. We began with a panga ride around the islet. We were glad that we saw this rare and beautiful bird hidden among the cactus and singing happily beside a group of finches and swallow tailed gulls. Mockingbirds are extinct from Floreana where there are introduced cats and rats. Champion is small but safer for them. Near the end of our panga ride, a group of very playful sea lions appeared, inviting us to join them in the clear azure water. So, we willingly accepted! We returned to the ship, slipped into our wetsuits and came back.
The snorkeling was excellent! We saw schools of colorful tropical fish and watched boobies fishing with sea lions, almost working together. As we swam into a small calm bay the sea lions began to play with us. We repeated their movements, and they followed us. We swam with them for a long time; when we finally climbed into the Zodiacs they looked forlorn, as if disappointed that we were leaving.
In the afternoon, we had two rounds of kayaking and afterwards we landed at Punta Cormorant. This was an easy landing and walk, and a short distance behind the greenish brown beach we came to a pond where we found a group of flamingos. These beautiful pink birds were magnificent and we were fortunate to observe them from nearby. They share this salty lagoon with a group of pintail ducks. This afternoon we discussed the importance of Floreana in the history of Ecuador, and of course mentioned Dr. Ritter, Dora and Eloisa Von Wagner, this island’s early and celebrated inhabitants.
