We had a rougher crossing last night from Espanola to Floreana Island, way out to the West. The crew said that the sea was getting up due to the approaching full moon on 29th April.
After breakfast we used the Zodiacs for a wet landing on Floreana Island at Cormorant Point. This is a younger island thus there are higher peaks and poorer soil than Española. There is even the visible remains of some lava flows even though all the volcanoes in the Galapagos are extinct. On the way in we saw some Brown Noddies ( terns ), Pelicans and Blue Footed Boobies. Once we had landed we walked to a brackish lagoons to see the endemic Flamingo. They were quite red. Tree finches, native bumble bees (large and black), Annie birds (introduced to pick parasites of cattle), yellow warblers, stingrays at the white powder sand beach, and once again blue footed boobies displaying in the mangroves at the degraded ash beach on which we landed.
Back on the boat for 30 minutes and then I went off snorkelling at Champion point (Howard feeling unwell). The water was clear and the snorkelling was superb. Lots of fish and, best of all, lots of sea lions who played around us, coming right up to my mask.
Lunch on board, then some of us watched a documentary about a murder mystery in the 1930s when some Germans came to the island in search of Paradise, and didn’t find it. Very strange. At 3 when it was a bit cooler we went to the Post Office on Floreana. This is apparently an old tradition from whaling times but it is kept alive now as a novelty for the tourists. You look in the barrel and find postcards for your homeland. You take those with you to deliver/post them when you get home. You then leave your cards for other people to collect later and, hopefully, deliver for you. There were many many cards for the US but only a few for the UK. We only found one, but delivered 6!
Then we went snorkelling again, off the beach this time, with luckily Howard feeling better. On the way to the beach we had a bit of a tour round the shore and the rocky outcrops, with marine iguanas feeding off the seaweed in the waves. Aurelio managed to catch his prop badly on a shallow bottom - it didn't sound good.
The snorkelling was in green turtle territory and sure enough we saw lots, all feeding off the algae. Howard managed to see an absolutely whopping specimen, the size of a man someone said! I await photographic proof from the others!
Back to the Montserrat for juice and snacks as always, and then a shower and chill, with some packing for our departure tomorrow. We had a final get together with a briefing for tomorrow and separate info for those of us leaving the boat (Tijs, Peter, Ian, Ruth, Connette, Tee, Brian, Sue and ourselves) versus those staying on (Monica, Tony, Jackie, Tom, Anne, Sue, Mary Lou and Derry).
We had a farewell cocktail and toast with the crew, all turned out in whites, and a slide show of photos from the trip. Then we handed over the envelopes with our tips, all of which we thought were well deserved.
Anthony, the chef, had pulled out all the stops for our final dinner (a roast turkey dinner) which was superb and our dessert was an 18th birthday cake for Tee who had achieved adult status today.
Coffee on the top deck and then we retired to our cabin for a last sleep on the boat.
