Floreana Island
Today our visitor sites were three different on Floreana Island and an islet called Champion. Deep water snorkeling, kayaking, Zodiac riding and nature walks were the activities we chose in order explore both the marine and land ecosystems of these marvelous places.
Early in the morning, before breakfast, we took a nature walk across a small peninsula passing along a brackish water lagoon. The main attractions at this site were the two different beaches one can see with different colors of sand due to its different origins. We also found some waders in the lagoon, and one of the highlights for many guests was seeing a group of at least five sea turtles near the beach attempting to mate.
After our breakfast we took Zodiac rides around Champion Island to look for an endangered bird, endemic just to this area, called the Charles mockingbird. It is so scarce that in finding four we can say we saw about ten percent of the population of Champion Island.
Shortly afterwards most of our guests went deep water snorkeling and had an incredible close encounter with big schools of colorful fish and sea lions.
In the afternoon we went to Post Office Bay, a very historic place in the archipelago. Over two centuries ago a wine barrel was placed on a pole near the beach to serve as a mailing system. Mail would be left and picked up mainly by English whalers that were going back home. They would hand deliver it. It was a great opportunity to keep this tradition alive, and many guests took mail that was addressed near their homes with the promise to hand deliver it — and they did not missed the opportunity to leave some mail with the hope of its arrival one day in this traditional way!
After our visit to the Post Office Barrel, we had an amazing Zodiac ride and kayaked along the coast of La Loberia with a nice sunset.
