Galapagos - Day 6 - Floreana Island

Today we're at Floreana Island. We went over to a bay of water inland to see flamingos. There weren't many there but the ones who were were pretty. From above you could see their trails of mud in the shallow water, which was really cool. We went to a white beach to try to see sharks, rays, and sea turtles but didn't see any in the water. It was also the place where sea turtles lay their eggs, but the wrong time of the year for it. There were a bunch of Sally Lightfoot crabs there too.

Floreana

Snorkeling

After going back to the beach we went snorkeling. It was great! The water was cold, but not at cold as the day before. Immediately we saw sea turtles. They were so graceful and you could swim really close to them. We saw a lot of fish - the king angelfish, a bright orange fish, a porcupine fish, and we played with some sea lions. We also saw some blue-footed boobies along the cliff.

Snorkeling Gear

After lunch we went to Post Office Bay to drop off postcards and take one to send. We got back on the yacht a half-hour later to set sail to Isabella Island. The crew set up the sails for the first time (to gain 2 knots with the motor). It was beautiful but the boat pitched hard to the right with the sails up. So far so that the deck frequently got wet and you felt like you'd fall overboard. A lot of people weren't feeling well and by 7:30 all but 5 of us were in bed. By 8:30 everyone was in their cabin. Around 8 I started not feeling well and headed off to bed. Around 1 a.m. we dropped anchor at Isabella.

Post Office Bay

Setting Sail

History of Floreana Island

Feb 28 1535 Fray Thomas/Berlonga - 1st person to report the islands
1570 Pirates
1684 1st map
1793 Post Office set up by Capt James Colnett of B.R.N.
(Patrick Watkins also lived on the island for about 5 years)
Feb 12 1832 Settlement of Floreana by General Villamil
Dec 27 1840 Charles Darwin
1926 Norwegians arrive
1929 Dr Friedrich Ritter and Dora Strauch arrive (Germans)
1932 Wittmer Family arrives
1934 self-proclaimed Baroness Von Wagner arrives (Lorenz, Philipson, and Equadorian man)

There was a lot of scuffle between the Germans...a lot of people poisoned, shipwrecked on other islands, or missing the Highlands of the island.