Flamingos, Post Office Bay, and Playful Sea Wolves
That's right, I said Sea Wolves. The people who live on the Galapagos call sea lions 'Lobos.' The translation for Lobos is wolves, so I guess if I stretch it a bit, we swam with wolves... I know, I know, it's a bit far-fetched but let's forget about that and talk about the day.
10:15 AM
We had a wet landing on Floreana this morning. Cormorant Point used to have thousands of flamingos, but like Rabida Island, the lake is dying, so we only saw three. What I found to be the most interesting part of the island was the fact that we were surrounded by around 50 dormant volcanoes, far more than any previous island we had visited.
Towards the end of our visit on this part of the island, we visited a beach where the green sea turtles nest. Even though we did not see any turtles, we saw evidence that one had nested the night before and had left. We didn't see any babies hatching since it was daytime, but I guess if we had they would have been eaten by the frigate birds circling overhead. So that was a good thing.
Right now, I'm on the boat preparing to go snorkeling for the second to last time of our trip.
5:14 PM
Ahhhh, there's nothing like a Galapagos Sunset from a lounge chair on the top deck... It doesn't get much better than this.
During our first snorkeling session of the day, we saw some sea turtles and a couple of penguins. The penguin sighting was unusual at Floreana due to its warmer water.
After lunch, we had a wet landing at Post Office Bay where the crews of multiple ships were playing soccer. We walked over to the Post Office Barrel and started going through the mail looking for any post cards that were close to our home.
(Post Office Bay contains a wooden barrel that travelers put their post cards into. The way it works is travelers arriving look through the existing post cards and look for any that are near where they may be going. If there is one, they take the card with them and hand deliver it to the recipients)
We found two post cards that were less than twenty minutes from our home. I took these and plan on delivering them with a picture of the Post Office.
After dropping off our own two post cards, we headed back to the beach for our last snorkeling session. We walked into the water from the beach and were greeted instantly by the local sea lion population. I have to say, without a doubt, that the sea lions here were the most playful we had seen on our trip. I almost got a few kisses!!
After snorkeling for about thirty minutes, we climbed back onto our panga and headed back to the boat. Adam's napping next to me as I take in the last sunset that we'll witness on the Galapagos.
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
1 day ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
2 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
3 days ago
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week