Floreana Island
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2011
1
257
289
Trip End
Sep 06, 2012
Where I stayed
Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The journey over was pretty bumpy but not as bad as the days before. It took about 1 ½ hours to get to the island. When we moored up, we had been followed in by the coastguard. When I say coastguard, it was more like the Navy Seals. They came on board and were dressed in their uniforms with handcuffs and guns. Hmmm, lets be nice to them. They wanted to check the captain and his paperwork to make sure it was all up together. Mel and I sat there very well behaved, smiling at them as they looked pretty fit in their uniform. After about 10 minutes and a ticking off for the captain, we were allowed to get off the boat. Once on the island we jumped straight onto a bus and were taken to the highlands to see the land tortoises in their natural habit. As there had been a little rain, the paths were a little slippery so wearing sandals was not a good idea. Ah well, we will be swimming later so will get the mud off then.
Whilst walking up to the tortoises we were taken around to where the Pirates used to live, over a hundred or so years ago. Apparently, the reason the islands have two names (Spanish & English) is due to the pirates that landed here and lived here. Not sure how much of this is true but makes for an interesting story. We saw a couple of caves which were where they slept and cooked.
The view from the top of the hill was great. You could see all the way back out to the ocean and also the non active volcano on the island.
When we got to the tortoises, I was a little disappointed. I thought they were going to be in their own habitat, but actually they were surrounded by a huge wall so could not get out and they were also fed. It was still great though as you could get up very close to them, obviously not touch them, but you could stand within a metre of them.
Once we had finished there, we got back on the bus and driven back down to the port where we had lunch. After lunch we got back on the boat and were taken to a spot for snorkelling. I decided not to get in as it was pretty grey and I didn’t fancy getting really cold on the way back. The people that got in, including Mel, had a great time. There were loads of turtles swimming around and at one point a playful sea lion came to join in the fun.
I have to say that Floreana is my least favourite Island that I have visited. It is still beautiful for the landscape, but slightly disappointing for the wildlife. Ah well, you can’t have it all.
We arrived back at Santa Cruz at about 3.30 pm, so Mel and I decided to go back to the hostel and have some food before coming back into town as we wanted to do a little retail therapy, or, to be honest, Mel is leaving me tomorrow so wanted to get some souvenirs.
Can’t believe that Mel’s days here are over. She leaves me tomorrow morning to start her final 4 weeks before she heads home to Dublin. I’m back on my own as of tomorrow. I worked out that I haven’t travelled on my own since the beginning of June. It’s gonna be weird.
Thanks so much for coming with me Mel. I had a great time sharing this with you and I will miss you loads.
Comments
Ah...thank you for making me go!! It was a definate highlight of my trip so far and a pleasure to share it with you :-) ...xx