Floreana Island
On our second day in Galápagos we had a very early morning outing at Post Office Bay in order to visit one of the oldest post office systems in the Americas, and to help maintain this old tradition ourselves.
Many of our guests dropped some post cards addressed to their relatives, friends and some even for themselves, if only to see that it really works! In addition to postcards, it was an amazing early morning with lots of turtles and young black-tipped reef sharks inside Post Office Bay itself, close to shore.
We came back to the National Geographic Polaris for breakfast, and as soon as everyone was on board the Captain repositioned the ship to our next visitor site further back east.
Late in the morning we headed to Champion Islet off the coast of Floreana Island for our second snorkeling session of the trip. Some decided to go for deep water “drifting” and some preferred to begin in shallower waters, but in the end all guests ended up very happy and satisfied for this wonderful experience. Champion Islet is considered to be one of the best snorkeling sites in the archipelago because here you can see lots of colorful fish, turtles, rays and depending on the year, you can swim with playful sea lions pups.
Late morning took us back to the same islet to look for the elusive Floreana mockingbird which is extinct on the main island of Floreana, but can still be seen only on two satellite islands, Gardner and Champion.
Our afternoon activities were also full of new experiences; some decided to go out early in the afternoon for kayaking and to explore the coastal area of Point Cormorant, while others prefered to rest and ready for our late afternoon walk on shore. As soon as we started out on the trail we saw about 50 flamingos, busily feeding on microscopic brine shrimp from which they get their beautiful pinkish coloration.
When we arrived to the leeward side of the point we saw lots of frigates birds gliding the length of the beach, ready to pick off any hatchling marine turtles who might emerge unfortunately early from their nest. Some of our guests were very sad to see that, but that’s part of the food chain process of Mother Nature.
When we left the beach, two sea lion pups chased the Zodiacs as a good bye to all of us.
