I was incorrect about the walk being after lunch. After breakfast, we went ashore on Floreana Island for a walk past a lagoon that had about 25 flamingos flying around and dozing. There are, according to Venus, our guide, exactly 353 flamingos on Floreana. The walk was brief but was up and down, and I am so tired.
Floreana is among the oldest islands, weather-beaten and eroded over several million years. It is the sixth largest island in the Galapagos and has a small settlement of around 100 people on its western coast.
The next activity was snorkeling around Devil’s Crown (also called Onslow), which is a submerged cone sheltering coral reefs. The current is very strong, and we were going to have to climb back into the panga twice so we decided to stay on the boat and rest. Probably our best decision so far, as our compatriots said it was very rough and difficult. Some only did one segment.
While they were laboring, we were sitting on the sun deck enjoy the morning sun and breeze.
We ate lunch then took a nap before our next activity, which was snorkeling from a beach. It’s much easier because you just drop off the panga in shallow water then head out to snorkel.
Before we snorkeled, we went to the “post office.” Ecuador doesn’t have postal service – it’s all done by commercial businesses and is impossibly expensive. The “post office” on Floreana is marked by a shrine of planks with the names of yachts etched onto them. It is in Post Office Bay, named after a barrel near the beach that has been used as a makeshift mail drop since the end of the 18th century. British whalers, who left letters here to be picked up by homeward-bound vessels, began the practice. It was exploited during the American war of 1812 when US Navy Captain David Porter, intercepted communications here, allowing him to round up a one million tons of shipping in the region’s waters.
The original barrel has long been replaced by the shrine, but post is still left and delivered free of charge by visitors. Inside what resembled a Free Library was a large two-gallon Ziploc bag with hundreds of post cards. We sorted through them – I came upon one that someone had requested the post card be left there, and they would pick it up on their 30th wedding anniversary in 2030. I chose two to take with me and mail when I get a chance. One was to New Berlin, Wisconsin; the other one I chose was going to Joliet, Montana, and it was in a child’s handwriting addressing grandma and grandpa. Beth took two post cards: one to Duluth and the other is to Prescott, Arizona.
We then snorkeled, and it was the best yet. We saw stingrays, turtles, sea lions and hundreds of different fish along with a rocky outcropping near the beach.
Unfortunately, plans shifted somewhat because we were to go on a panga ride along the coastline but an engine on one of the pangas bit the dust, and they couldn’t fix it. So we now have only one panga that seats 10 at most so it now is used to shuttle one group, then the other. We’ll find out at the briefing tonight how it is going to affect tomorrow’s activities.
We are on the move again tonight – the captain said we’ll go 70 miles in nine hours.
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