Floreana Island
Floreana Island has beautiful wildlife and landscapes but its human history is fascinating as well. A pre-breakfast outing took us to one of the most historical places in Galápagos, Post Office Bay. In the last centuries, pirates, whalers, buccaneers, sealers and early settlers anchored and disembarked exactly at the spot we did this morning. They eagerly sought the post office barrel and located news of their beloved or answers and clues to hidden treasures or routes of ships to attack and steal from. Today our guests keep this ancient tradition alive! We left some postcards in the barrel and picked some up. The amusing detail is that stamps are not needed for the messages have to be hand delivered. Another fascinating story is that Floreana Island also held the first human being that ever survived on his own in the Galápagos archipelago. Patrick Watkins, a renegade Irish buccaneer was left behind by his Captain with the word that no one should pick him up as he was a dangerous man. For more than two years he survived exchanging rum for the cabbages he cultivated. Watkins was finally taken to Guayaquil and passed away there. He was the Robinson Crusoe of the Galápagos; he lived in Floreana Island from 1807 to 1809. After this unusual settler Floreana Island became a penal colony for some years in the late eighteen hundreds. Definite colonizers arrived at the end of the nineteen twenties.
Our second morning outing was a bird watching expedition around Champion Islet on board our Zodiac fleet The Floreana Mockingbird is extinct in the main island but still present in this small Islet. It is estimated that the whole population of this rare bird species is less than a couple of hundred individuals. Our third morning outing was to snorkel around Champion Islet. Water temperature was great! It is unusually warm for this time of the year, the ocean is not too choppy and the wind is not too strong, almost no garua (mist) at all. The latter conditions are very unusual for late August in Galápagos. The afternoon highlights were the bright pink flamingoes that live in the lagoon in Punta Cormorant, the olivine crystals on the green beach and the white flower beach on the second beach we visited. Kayakers also had a great time after lunch. A barbeque dinner and a talent show were appreciated by all onboard.
Floreana Island has beautiful wildlife and landscapes but its human history is fascinating as well. A pre-breakfast outing took us to one of the most historical places in Galápagos, Post Office Bay. In the last centuries, pirates, whalers, buccaneers, sealers and early settlers anchored and disembarked exactly at the spot we did this morning. They eagerly sought the post office barrel and located news of their beloved or answers and clues to hidden treasures or routes of ships to attack and steal from. Today our guests keep this ancient tradition alive! We left some postcards in the barrel and picked some up. The amusing detail is that stamps are not needed for the messages have to be hand delivered. Another fascinating story is that Floreana Island also held the first human being that ever survived on his own in the Galápagos archipelago. Patrick Watkins, a renegade Irish buccaneer was left behind by his Captain with the word that no one should pick him up as he was a dangerous man. For more than two years he survived exchanging rum for the cabbages he cultivated. Watkins was finally taken to Guayaquil and passed away there. He was the Robinson Crusoe of the Galápagos; he lived in Floreana Island from 1807 to 1809. After this unusual settler Floreana Island became a penal colony for some years in the late eighteen hundreds. Definite colonizers arrived at the end of the nineteen twenties.
Our second morning outing was a bird watching expedition around Champion Islet on board our Zodiac fleet The Floreana Mockingbird is extinct in the main island but still present in this small Islet. It is estimated that the whole population of this rare bird species is less than a couple of hundred individuals. Our third morning outing was to snorkel around Champion Islet. Water temperature was great! It is unusually warm for this time of the year, the ocean is not too choppy and the wind is not too strong, almost no garua (mist) at all. The latter conditions are very unusual for late August in Galápagos. The afternoon highlights were the bright pink flamingoes that live in the lagoon in Punta Cormorant, the olivine crystals on the green beach and the white flower beach on the second beach we visited. Kayakers also had a great time after lunch. A barbeque dinner and a talent show were appreciated by all onboard.
