Today we have an early wake up call to visit a very interesting spot called Punta Cormorant at the island of Floreana. Juan Jose Flores was the first president of Ecuador in 1832, and it is also the year that Galapagos was claimed, so that is from where the Floreana name is derived. Punta Cormorant is a quiet place and its bay has a greenish beach made of olivine, a crystal common in basalt formations. We had a wet landing and went on a walk along the trail to discover some wildlife. Behind the beach is a beautiful brackish water lagoon surrounded by mangroves, ice plants, and lava flows. The scenery is dramatic because of the contrast between the geological formations- the green of the plants, the gray of the dormant trees, and the pink of the flamingos that feed there. Flamingos are endemic to the Galapagos and although there are not many here, we counted approximately 50 of them in the lagoon. They feed on shrimp and others mollusks in the ooze.
On the other side of the point there is a coralline sandy beach where marine turtles come to nest. We saw some tracks from a couple of turtles that came the night before to work on the sand dunes. Finches, warblers and flycatchers were found on Palo Santo trees and cordia bushes. Then we came back on board to have breakfast and then ride around Champion islet.
Well, we enjoyed the first part of our morning and now it is time to jump into the water. It is one of the most enjoyable activities in Galapagos because of the sea lions playing with our intrepid visitors. Also, many types of fish are found here as well as sea fans, sea urchins and multicolored sea stars.
Later in the afternoon we headed to Post Office Bay, a very historical place where the colonization of the island started in 1807, when Irishman Patrick Watkins decided to live like Robin Crusoe in the highlands. Here we visited a very old wooden barrel that was established in 1792 by James Colnet. In fact, it was the first post office of South America and nowadays it is still working with the help of our visitors. They post letters that later are taken and hand delivered by other visitors and at the same time they collect post cards for which the addresses are close to where they live.
The sunset was spectacular and we enjoyed a wine tasting prepared by our hotel manager on the sun deck. It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful day in this pristine paradise.
