Galapagos day 4 Floreana

On Sunday I took a tour to Floreana.  Floreana is one of the more isolated islands in the Galapagos and has an interesting history.  Many articles and guides I read said it was a great place to visit – nice scenery, quiet, interesting history.  But many of the tour operators said it wasn’t worth going to etc.  It was about an hour and a half boat ride and the island was beautiful.

We hiked and our guide, Jorge, showed us plants and animals and told us the history of the island.  

These plants ditch their chlorophyll and turn red to conserve energy

There were some Norwegian and German settlers. One of the most famous spots on the island is the post office.  It was one of the first in the world.  Sailors would leave notes and if another sailor came by going that way would deliver it.  The tradition continues and tourists leave postcards and others pick them up if they are able to hand deliver them.  I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see it – it was on the other side of the island.  He said tourists often get upset with him because the tour operator didn’t clarify with them that we won’t see it on this tour. 

Post office Replica

Pirate caves

We went to a lovely little restaurant and had fish, rice, beans, and salad. We did get to see a white sand beach and people snorkeled but it was the same animals I saw yesterday and we had no wet suits today! So I stayed on the beach.  I could see sea lions on a beach nearby – they were birthing their babies so we weren’t allowed to go on the beach, but some of the babies were swimming in the water.  We saw tons of sea lions and marine iguanas sunning themselves and we could see sea turtles near the beach.  

White sand beaches - the far one has birthing sea lions

black sand beach

There were two women from Sao Paulo in our group.  One of them was delighted that I had lived in Sao Paulo and was interested in talking.  We did quite a bit of communicating with her tiny bit of English, my bit of Portuguese, and my Spanish (which Brazilians can understand to a point).  She would start a sentence and I’d help her finish it in English and I’d say stuff in Portuguese and she was refined it.  It was great opportunity to learn for both of us.

On the way back most everyone was dozing and I saw dolphins!!!  As soon as I made a sound the other foreigners crowded to the back to see them so I didn’t get any videos of them jumping.  The Ecuadorians looked annoyed that we woke them – they were like It’s just dolphins!! The ride back was even smoother than the ride there.