Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Day 4: Floreana Island: Pink Flamingos, Snorkeling, Post Office Bay & Human History

Our day started early with a 6:00AM wake up, breakfast at 6:30 and off to shore at 07:15AM.  Our first landing was a “wet” one where we disembarked onto a sand beach and then walked inland to a lagoon where we were treated to close up views of the rare Galapagos pink flamingo.  We learned about their feeding habits (brine shrimp give them their pink color), anatomy (their heads are basically on upside down and their ankles are where our knees would be located).  
Photo by Weston Walker
We returned to the boat for our first snorkel experience which allowed us to swim with playful sea lions and view large schools of tropical fish.  The water was warm and very clear. 
Then we headed over to Post Office Bay where we walked a short distance to the most unusual post office in the world.  Essentially, it is a huge barrel that people put postcards in without stamps.  The other travelers come by and hand deliver the postcards to people back in their home town if the address matches.  We found postcards addressed to all 4 corners of the globe.  It was fun to see what people wrote and to be part of the human history of the Galapagos because this same postal system was used by early travelers since Darwin’s time to get messages to other ships and to home ports...fascinating.  
In the afternoon we set off to the highlands of Floreana in a funky local bus that took us up the volcanic slope to the highlands where the flora changed from low scrub to mature tall forest, farmlands, and fruit trees.  We took a walk through a tortoise preserve where we had some excellent close encounters with these ancient creatures. 
 
We then walked to where the first inhabitants of the Galapagos had settled into cave dwellings in the 1920’s and learned the twisted history of the bizarre characters that came here from around the globe.  Ironically, they were trying to escape from civilization but soon found themselves with neighbors and visitors from the homeland (Germany).  We heard tales of intrigue including mysterious disappearances, possible murders, love triangles and more...there was even a self proclaimed “Empress of the Islands” - truly bizarre!

Movie about the Floreana's history

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