The National Geographic Islander dropped anchor at the first colonized island in the Galapagos, Floreana.
Due to its location in the archipelago for the whaling industry, Floreana was used as a base camp for these navigators in the 18th century. Also, the Ecuadorian government decided to colonize this island thanks to the fresh water available throughout the year. Over time the majority of early colonizers abandoned the island and left it to the fate of air and marine currents. Nowadays it has a small settlement located in Puerto Velazco Ibarra.
For our guests we prepared an exciting day, starting with an early hike and finishing with cocktails on the sky deck of our ship. In the morning we had an outing before breakfast, just so that we could use the time more efficiently and get the best light of the day for photography. We landed on Punta Cormorant and started our walk on a green-olivine beach where there is a small colony of sea lions and some blue footed boobies. Beyond this beach there is a lagoon where we found flamingos for the first time during the trip. These birds are a recent arrival to the Galapagos, making them the newest residents of the archipelago. At the end of the trail we visited an active nesting sea turtle site during this time of the year. We were lucky to see some fresh female turtle tracks and some groups mating in the water.
Later we navigated to Champion Islet. Here is where the last population of Floreana mockingbirds live in the whole world. We visited this place first with our Zodiacs, so that we could take photos of this unusual bird, and later we snorkelled in the same location.
At the end of the day we navigated once more, this time to Post office bay. Even Charles Darwin landed here in 1835 during his worldwide voyage. Our guests kept the old tradition alive, which is to deliver the postcards left here by other tourists. This is a personal service that started hundreds of years ago! Also we used our kayaks to explore the shoreline of this site before we landed on a popular quiet beach to end the day.
Floreana was beautiful and we ended the day on the sky deck with beverages in hand to enjoy the sunset. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.
