Feb 7, 2013 - Turtles and sharks...oh my!

Feb 7 No seasickness but the noises of a small boat moving made for a fitful night's sleep. I was awakened at midnight by the horn signalling we were leaving. I thought it was the emergency alarm so got up, woke up Mike, put my lifejacket on and headed up the ladder. I was the only one there. Duh. Mike didn't even bother getting up. Yes, I did feel kind of stupid. ;) After breakfast at 7am we loaded into the pangas and headed for the shore of Floreana and visited post office bay. There we went through the stack of postcards left by other...

Nov 9, 2012 - Galapagos - Floreana/Isla Santa Maria

First stop of the day Punta Cormorant (beach), greenish sand and again sealions lying along the length of the shore. Walk across the island via another lagoon to another beach, bright white sand and black volcanic rocks. It´s mating time for sea turtles and there´s a couple getting down to it just in the shallow waters - it looks like a very lengthy process and both participants look equally weary...The rocks are covered in multi-coloured crabs complete with turquoise flashes on their shells. Back to boat for snorkelling session #2, this...

Jun 17, 2012 - Dove l'uomo non è predatore (parte seconda: isole sud)

Giorno 5: Puerto Ayora È strano risbarcare in questo porto, mi sento a casa e anche gli altri lo percepiscono. Sembra che lo conosca da una vita, che sia di qui. Incontro il manager del mio ostello, ragazzo simpaticissimo, che mi viene incontro, mi abbraccia e mi saluta. Rivedo i ragazzi dei diving centre utilizzati, i luoghi delle mie serate… sono felice di essere nuovamente qui. Il nostro programma della giornata prevede di andare in mattinata al Charles Darwin Research Centre e nel pomeriggio a esplorare un ranch e i tunnel di lava. Al...

Apr 17, 2012 - Floreana Island

One of the southernmost islands of the archipelago, Floreana is very old and its numerous volcanoes have reached advanced stages of erosion. Our exposure to Floreana began with a wet landing onto a fascinating beach of olivine sand, followed by a hike to a second beach of white, corraline sand that is a favorite nesting site for the green sea turtles.

Feb 23, 2011 - Bookends

Off Floreana Island 21 Feb 2011 – 2300 in Galapagos Schedule? What schedule? Did I mention a schedule? Almost as soon as the day began, the schedule was amended. We woke around 0600 and started on routine things like washing clothes. Then, at 0630 came the programmed wake-up call – and that was as far as the routine went, for a while. A couple of minutes later someone called out “dolphins!” and we all rushed to have a look at a school of dolphins in a classic hunting circle, about 250m behind G6. Another couple of minutes later, the...

Nov 8, 2010 - A *Very* Active Day

Tom: The sunrise here is within minutes of 6 AM year-round. And today’s first activities started at exactly that hour -- a Zodiak visit to Post Office Bay. Since Stephanie was up early for that one, I’ll defer on that interesting discussion. Suffice it to say that during that same time period, while others were still sound asleep, I found the ship’s internet connection working well enough that I was able to post the previous day’s update. Mid-morning again saw the Zodiac fleet pressed into service. We had been at anchor overnight just...

Jun 2, 2010 - Floreana Is

See pics Read about this unique island and see points of interest we visited by going to: Floreana Island Info OR: Floreana Island - Offical Govt Site Land & Sea Life Seen:) Floreana-Punta Cormoran - Devil's Crown *All Critters marked like this indicates first time observed! eagle ray*, wht tip shark, reef cornetfish*, spotfin burrfish*, Mexican hogfish*, longfin halfbeak*, giant damselfish*...3 flamingos, painted locust, 4+ Gala penguins*, pencil seaurchin*, black mangrove*, floreana bush* (yellow flower) Eagle Ray Info Reef Cornetfish...

May 12, 2010 - Day 2 Galapagos

Am a bit meeped off because I just wrote lots and the my session timed out. I really ca`n't be bothered to write loads again so here is a summery of what happened on day 2 (which was an awesome day btw) Up at 6am (eeughhh) Dingy ride around rocky outcrops to see blue footed boobies (its a bird with blue feet), penguins, seals and marine lizards. Snorkelling- was a bit nervous about this because of all the shark talk, but soon got used to it when I realised the fish and sharks didn't want to nibble my toes. We swam with lots of baby seals...

Feb 28, 2010 - Post office Bay

This morning I went kayaking for the first time in Champion Islet.First though we went to Post Office Bay where seaman of old used to post their mail in a barrel and hope that the occupants of the next ship were travelling to where their mail was destined. Mostly the occupants were pirates and whalers, so there were no tortoises as they had been eaten. We opened the barrel and went through all the mail The idea is that if you live in the location, you would deliver by hand the mail in the box. I ended up with two notes and cads for France...

Jun 28, 2009 - Floreana - Sunday

The first stop this morning was at Post Office Bay. This has been in place for over 200 years. The tradition is that you leave mail here, and search through what's been left, and take some to be delivered. You can either take it back to your home country where it's headed and mail it, or you can hand deliver it to the addressee if they're where you're headed. I picked up 4 to mail from home. One is in Brooklyn, but I'm not sure I can manage to deliver it myself. From there we explored a huge lava tube. I didn't have the presence of mind to...

May 21, 2009 - Floreana Island

Today's highlights: - Visiting the famous and very old Post Office to leave my post cards and pick up a few to deliver - descending into the Lava Tunnel near the post office into the giant dark "church" and freezing cold water - the gorgeous beach in Post Office Bay and finally getting to swim with a bunch of sea lions! then getting scared by a juvenile male trying to bite me - swimming with a giant sea turtle!!! - snorkeling at the Devil's Crown- a gorgeous underwater area where I ended up on top of a 2.5 m white-tipped shark and got to...

Apr 14, 2008 - Galapagos 6 & 7

Monday 14th April – Motored overnight to Floreana. In the morning we visited Post Office Bay. The original mail barrel was placed on the Island in 1793. Now tourist groups go through the mail and take those with them that can be delivered locally. We also placed a card in the barrel for hopefully future delivery. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get to Vancouver. The group then went snorkelling while I sat on the beach watching. At the same time our boat crew was playing soccer with another boat crew whose boat was also...