We spend our day exploring the northwestern coast of Floreana. First thing this morning we landed at Punta Cormorant for a pre-breakfast excursion, where we hiked around a brackish water lagoon and had a chance to see American flamingoes and Pacific green sea turtles leaving the beach after nesting. Later on in the morning we had the chance to explore the shoreline of nearby Champion’s Islet while snorkeling, Zodiac cruising, or taking a ride in our glass-bottom boat. During the afternoon, we repositioned to Post Office Bay, where after delivering our postcards we had a chance to go kayaking and stand-up paddle-boarding in a mangrove area, a resting place for sea turtles and the occasional visiting area for flamingoes from the nearby brackish water lake.
10/4/2024
Read
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.