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| Day 11 |
Day 9 brings us to Floreana Island to visit both Post Office Bay and Cormorant Point, Those who are following the printed itinerary see that the morning trip to Cormorant Point was changed to the afternoon and we went to Post Office Bay in the morning. We did this swap because Post Office Point is a popular stop on many Galapagos tours, and there are less people there early in the morning.
At Post Office Bay there is, of course a post office...of sorts. Dating back to the early days of sailing vessels, it was customary to leave letters addressed to various places in the world, to be picked up by visiting ships and delivered when they reached their home port. The post office was a barrel, which is long gone. A replacement barrel is located on the site today, so that tourists can leave a post card addressed to someone, perhaps themselves, to be picked up by a future traveler who lives within 50 miles or so of the intended destination. The postcard must be hand delivered, just like in days of old. A wonderful way to meet new people who have had similar experiences. Though we searched no cards were there within driving distance of our home in Southeast Michigan. There is also the remains of an old fish cannery which operated on the island for a few years before going out of business.
There was a lava tube that could be explored by the more adventurous of us, which went down to the sea, much like a long cave. You can see people entering this tube in the group pictures. After the explorers returned, the pangas came and returned us back to the boat to prepare to go snorkeling in the Devil's Crown (Coranado del Diablo).
In the afternoon we visited Punta Cormorant. I looked all over for the flightless cormorants that have evolved with just stubby wings because they have no natural enemies, thus no need to fly. Later I learned that there are no cormorants on Floreana Island, and the the Point was named after a U.S. Ship! Oh well.......
The beach was quite green due to a green mineral. A lagoon was found behind the beach which was a major nesting and feeding area for flamingos. We took a lot of pictures of these beautiful birds. We then went on to explore the flora and fauna of this part of Floreana Island.