Floreana Island
We had a fantastic expedition today at Floreana Island, also known as Charles Island, a peaceful, charming spot, located in the south corner of the archipelago.
We started our morning with an early pre-breakfast landing at a beach of olivine sand, the green beach of Punta Cormorant.
Under a clear and sunny sky, we went on a fascinating walk into the island’s interior. We were able to see our first flamingos in a brackish lagoon, as well as many endemic species such as the Floreana lava lizard, the Galápagos Flycatcher, and some endemic plants such as the Lecocarpus pinnatifidus and the Scalesia villosa only found here. The trail ended on another beautiful beach, this one of incredibly fine, white, coralline sand, a favorite nesting site for the green sea turtles.
On the way back to our landing site, we enjoyed the presence of many Darwin finches and learned about the colorful human history of the island: from marooned whalers to prisoners and colonists, and from a toothless dentist to a self-proclaimed empress.
Back aboard and after breakfast, our ship repositioned to a small offshore volcanic cone named Champion Islet. This is one of two tiny islets where a remnant population of the Floreana mockingbird—which was driven to extinction by cats, rats, and other introduced predators on the main island—still exists. The islet’s rocky shores are home to colonies of Galápagos sea lions, and the underwater cliffs are swarming with colorful fish species.
To the delight of all of us, mockingbirds were everywhere today, jumping from cactus to cactus and from bush to bush, while young sea lions were playing around the Zodiac.
Later on, we had the opportunity to go into the water to explore this site and found a myriad of colorful fish, white tipped reef sharks, sea stars, sea urchins, corals, but once again the sea lions where the stars of the activity.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon visiting the famous Post Office Bay following Charles Darwin’s footsteps, who landed at this site on September 26, during his 5-week visit to the Galápagos in 1835. Here, a barrel is still used for an old mail swap tradition going back to whaling days.
After collecting and dropping letters and postcards from all over the world, we continued our afternoon exploring the beautiful Post Office Bay by Zodiacs and kayaks.
