Floreana Island, which we visited today, forever changed the archipelago when it became the site of the first human settlement from Ecuador. Today we visited the farthest sites, where the human influence has been diminished by the efforts of the National Park Service. We visited three places today: Cormorant Point with its flamingos and nesting turtles, Champion Islet which is the only place where visitors can spot the elusive Floreana mockingbird, and Post Office Bay where we followed an old whaler’s tradition with a postcard delivery system.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 03 Dec 2018
Floreana Island, 12/3/2018, National Geographic Endeavour II
- Aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II
- Galápagos
Enrique Silva, Naturalist
Enrique was born and raised on San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos Archipelago. His parents moved from mainland Ecuador to the islands in the 1980s in search of better opportunities. Growing up surrounded by the ocean, Enrique developed a strong co...
Read MoreJames Biscardi, Videographer
James Biscardi is a young, ambitious professional photographer and videographer. He is always on the lookout for the next big adventure and “telling the story” through film.
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Today we stopped by Floreana Island, the historical capital of the Galapagos province. In the early morning hours, we started exploring the Post Office Bay coastline by kayaks and Zodiacs. Along the basaltic coastline we found emblematic animals, such as marine iguanas and flamingos. To finish the morning, we continued with the whaling mail tradition of taking and leaving postcards for hand delivery upon our return home. After a delicious lunch, we continued our day with two more activities, starting with snorkeling around Champion Islet with an abundance and great diversity of marine life surrounding us. Finally, we had a beautiful sunset walk along Cormorant Point, an ideal site to observe the coastal vegetation as well as the iconic flamingo population.