Floreana Island
This morning, even before breakfast, we had an early activity on the island that was quite mysterious. This area is the place where whalers from the old world were hunting would replenished their ship with water and food; unfortunately, that meant Giant tortoises. For the crew on board of the whaling ships, it demanded long periods of time to be at sea, away from their countries and their families. Captain James Collnet is the person who during the late seventeen hundreds set up a barrel on Post office bay, becoming the first mailing system in South America. This of course, was the only link between the whalers and their families; now it is a traditions followed mainly by tourists visiting the Galápagos. Our guests from the National Geographic Polaris were eager to continue the tradition, and sent postcards to their family and friends with no stamp required!
Later on we had our snorkeling off the shores of one of the most famous snorkel sites, Champion Islet. Just before lunch we had the opportunity to return to Champion; this time to look for one of the rarest land birds in the whole planet, the elusive Floreana Mockingbird! It turned out great, as we got to see them flying around the shores.
During our afternoon we explored the Northeast coast of Floreana Island, know as Punta Cormorant (after the HMS Cormorant). We disembarked on a beautiful green sand beach where the accumulation of the olivine crystals, mix up with Volcanic ash and organic material, projects a green shade all over the beach.
During our walk we got closer to a totally different ecosystem; this is only possible twice a month, when the Moon and Earth line up and form what is called Spring tide and Nap tide, forming brackish water lagoons covered with mangrove forest. This is a perfect place to see costal birds and the main attraction this afternoon were the greater flamingos.
This is another example of a perfect day in Galápagos!
This morning, even before breakfast, we had an early activity on the island that was quite mysterious. This area is the place where whalers from the old world were hunting would replenished their ship with water and food; unfortunately, that meant Giant tortoises. For the crew on board of the whaling ships, it demanded long periods of time to be at sea, away from their countries and their families. Captain James Collnet is the person who during the late seventeen hundreds set up a barrel on Post office bay, becoming the first mailing system in South America. This of course, was the only link between the whalers and their families; now it is a traditions followed mainly by tourists visiting the Galápagos. Our guests from the National Geographic Polaris were eager to continue the tradition, and sent postcards to their family and friends with no stamp required!
Later on we had our snorkeling off the shores of one of the most famous snorkel sites, Champion Islet. Just before lunch we had the opportunity to return to Champion; this time to look for one of the rarest land birds in the whole planet, the elusive Floreana Mockingbird! It turned out great, as we got to see them flying around the shores.
During our afternoon we explored the Northeast coast of Floreana Island, know as Punta Cormorant (after the HMS Cormorant). We disembarked on a beautiful green sand beach where the accumulation of the olivine crystals, mix up with Volcanic ash and organic material, projects a green shade all over the beach.
During our walk we got closer to a totally different ecosystem; this is only possible twice a month, when the Moon and Earth line up and form what is called Spring tide and Nap tide, forming brackish water lagoons covered with mangrove forest. This is a perfect place to see costal birds and the main attraction this afternoon were the greater flamingos.
This is another example of a perfect day in Galápagos!
