Floreana

 This morning was much more relaxed.  If you wanted adventure you could kayak on one of the two offered excursions, otherwise zodiacs would take you to the beach for a relaxing morning.  The unusual feature on the beach was a post office of sorts.  A barrel collects mail (post cards in our case).  As others come and deposit their mail they are supposed to sort through the deposits and take with them mail going near their home to post upon their return.  While we decided to read in our suite, we did send a couple of cards to be deposited in the barrel.  We’ll see if we receive them someday.

After lunch was the snorkeling opportunity for the day.  This site had a stronger current but the water was slightly warmer.  The group we were with struggled a little more which made it a little less pleasant.  The highlight for me was swimming with the sea lions.  I think if I would have been closer to the shore I would have seen the babies but I did see a couple of big guys swimming .  We also saw lots of reef fish, a shark, a couple of sea turtles, and some cool rock formations.  



I should mention that upon our return to the ship from snorkeling we are greeted with towels and a couple of different warm drinks to choose from.  The hot chocolate is thick and not too sweet, more like what you might find in Mexico.  There was also an offering of a tipple of the local alcohol made from sugar cane.

David went on the afternoon Punta Cormorant nature walk.  He saw some flamingos in the distance but nothing close.  He also got to see the green crystals that make up some of the beaches.



Tonight’s lecture was giving us a timeline of humans on the islands.  While Charles Darwin was perhaps the most well known visitor, there have been a host of people that both visited and settled on the islands.  There are currently around 35,000 residents on the 5 inhabited islands.  The visitors definitely didn’t help the animal population until recent conservation efforts.

We ate again in the grill.  The staff gets to know you on these trips and you strike up a pleasant friendship for the length of the cruise.

Tomorrow: Giant Tortoise 

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