Floreana Island
When we tell our guests the many stories associated with the island of Floreana, they put on sceptical faces. It is hard to believe that people tried to settle on such an arid and isolated place. However, there have been many who, over the years, tried to make a living on this island. First of all we had the pirates sporadically visiting the Galápagos to get water and tortoises. They even spent numerous nights camping on the island. In the highlands, near the one fresh water source, there is a place with caves known as “the pirate caves” as evidence.
Then we had the whalers, who used Floreana as their supermarket for a hundred years. They took so many tortoises from this island, that today they have become extinct here.
The first Ecuadorian colony settled on Floreana in 1832. It did not last very long, but for 5 years they worked at producing ink from a kind of lichen living on the “holy trees” (palo santos) that cover the arid areas. At the beginning of the nineteen hundreds a group of eccentric Europeans arrived: a baroness who declared herself the empress of the Galápagos, and a toothless couple. During the next few years, people disappeared, people appeared. More mysteries were added to the enchantment of this place.
Today there are 60 people permanently living on the island. They have cattle farms, and they are fisherman. We do not visit them on our trips, but we get some of our ship’s supplies from them; things like papayas and watermelons, oranges and pork.
Today we learned about the halo of mystery that surrounds Floreana, and we saw the beauty of the flamingos and different-colored sandy beaches. We snorkeled with sea lions and amazing, colorful fish. We learned that the National Park and the Charles Darwin Station are working hard to restore this island… And, best of all, no one disappeared today!
When we tell our guests the many stories associated with the island of Floreana, they put on sceptical faces. It is hard to believe that people tried to settle on such an arid and isolated place. However, there have been many who, over the years, tried to make a living on this island. First of all we had the pirates sporadically visiting the Galápagos to get water and tortoises. They even spent numerous nights camping on the island. In the highlands, near the one fresh water source, there is a place with caves known as “the pirate caves” as evidence.
Then we had the whalers, who used Floreana as their supermarket for a hundred years. They took so many tortoises from this island, that today they have become extinct here.
The first Ecuadorian colony settled on Floreana in 1832. It did not last very long, but for 5 years they worked at producing ink from a kind of lichen living on the “holy trees” (palo santos) that cover the arid areas. At the beginning of the nineteen hundreds a group of eccentric Europeans arrived: a baroness who declared herself the empress of the Galápagos, and a toothless couple. During the next few years, people disappeared, people appeared. More mysteries were added to the enchantment of this place.
Today there are 60 people permanently living on the island. They have cattle farms, and they are fisherman. We do not visit them on our trips, but we get some of our ship’s supplies from them; things like papayas and watermelons, oranges and pork.
Today we learned about the halo of mystery that surrounds Floreana, and we saw the beauty of the flamingos and different-colored sandy beaches. We snorkeled with sea lions and amazing, colorful fish. We learned that the National Park and the Charles Darwin Station are working hard to restore this island… And, best of all, no one disappeared today!
