Today on the National Geographic Endeavour II, we spent the day exploring the northwestern end of Floreana Island. During an early morning pre-breakfast excursion, we landed on Cormorant Point where we hiked around a brackish water lagoon and had a chance to observe American flamingoes and blue-footed boobies up close. Later on in the morning after our ship repositioned, we snorkeled around Champions Islet after exploring the shoreline aboard our Zodiacs. During the afternoon we repositioned to Post Office Bay, where we had the opportunity to participate in the old tradition, established by whalers, of hand-delivering mail to and from the islands. After delivering our postcards, we had a chance to kayak and paddle board in a mangrove area teeming with young sharks, rays and sea turtles. Some of our guests even had the opportunity to spot the first Galapagos penguins of the trip.
10/4/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Genovesa Island
With coffee in hand, I stepped out onto the front balcony of the lounge to see what was going on. We had just entered Darwin’s Bay, dropped anchor, and the juvenile red-footed boobies had found the ship and were flying around us on an inspection tour. The rest of the day continued with discoveries of all kinds. An early morning inversion layer (locally known as “garúa”) had fallen and dampened the environment with much desired drops of fresh water, although the chicks of various species didn’t appear terribly pleased in having wet feathers. On our return, the same bedraggled individuals looked smooth, sleek and dry once the sun had come out. The Galapagos National Park has only two sites for visitors, both spectacular, both well worth a slow walk among the palo santo trees to see the great frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, Galapagos doves, Darwin’s finches, short-eared owls, and storm petrels. Snorkeling, kayaking, and paddleboarding along the base of the cliffs of Darwin’s Bay followed. There’s nothing quite like this island anywhere in the world.
