Floreana Island had a lovely black sand beach that, if you looked closely, was littered with small opaque pebbles of olivine that looked like smooth polished green glass. Every island is very different and each offers surprises whether it be new flora, fauna or just simply scenery. Thats another of the amazing things about the Galapagos.
A brackish lagoon on the island was home to a small flock of flamingos that emigrated from the Caribbean (you can see the narrow stretch of land that seperates it from the sea)
and we were lucky enough to see a few of them.
A short walk across the other side of the island was a lovely beach with fresh turtle tracks where the females had come ashore to lay their eggs the night before.
A tiny Sanderling ran from the waves, his legs going so fast they were a blur to the naked eye (reminded me of the cartoon bird, RoadRunner)
and at Post Office Bay there was… a Post Office (of sorts)!
Apparently this is where the whaling boats used to pick up and drop off post but now its somewhere for visitors to leave cards in the hope that another visitor will pick up yours and deliver it to whomever you sent it to. Monica is stamping all our cards with the Beluga stamp.
The boats have a football league and our crew play a crew from other boats twice a week on different islands. Post Office Bay had some goals and a bit of flat ground, and Andre (in the front middle) joined in despite the heat. We were well impressed (as we headed for the water, snorkelling).
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Photo: Sam DePaul
This is el Capitan in the ‘Beluga’ colours.
and the chef seemed to do an OK job in the goal position
Out in the water there was loads of weed and it didn’t take much to come up with bits and pieces draped around you! James was nearby with a camera when I surfaced. The visibility was getting worse and worse as the waters warmed up so sometimes it was a bit like snorkelling in soup.
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I think that, between Ben, James, Euan and I, we were the bane of the Captains week what with wanting to swim back to the boat, jump off it, swim around and under it (I wanted to see the propellers and rudder, then told James to have a look but when he came back up he popped up right the moving panga, giving the sailor a hell of a fight!). At times there was a flat ‘NO’ from the Captain or Monica, because of sharks, engine being on or whatever. We pushed it one day though as James decided to do one last lap of the boat, there was el Capitan on the bridge clapping his hands and shouting “Vamos!, vamos!” (“Lets go, lets go”) and ordering the poor sailor (who was waving his arms and saying that there still someone in the water) to bring up the anchor. This is James, Euan and Ben doing synchronised jumping.
The frigates followed us for hours on our way from Floreana to Santa Cruz
and James (sitting reading) got shat on three times within the space of about an hour. Brilliant!
I shouldn’t have laughed (sorry James) but it was rather funny.
A brackish lagoon on the island was home to a small flock of flamingos that emigrated from the Caribbean (you can see the narrow stretch of land that seperates it from the sea)
and we were lucky enough to see a few of them.
A short walk across the other side of the island was a lovely beach with fresh turtle tracks where the females had come ashore to lay their eggs the night before.
A tiny Sanderling ran from the waves, his legs going so fast they were a blur to the naked eye (reminded me of the cartoon bird, RoadRunner)
and at Post Office Bay there was… a Post Office (of sorts)!
Apparently this is where the whaling boats used to pick up and drop off post but now its somewhere for visitors to leave cards in the hope that another visitor will pick up yours and deliver it to whomever you sent it to. Monica is stamping all our cards with the Beluga stamp.
The boats have a football league and our crew play a crew from other boats twice a week on different islands. Post Office Bay had some goals and a bit of flat ground, and Andre (in the front middle) joined in despite the heat. We were well impressed (as we headed for the water, snorkelling).
.jpg)
Photo: Sam DePaul
This is el Capitan in the ‘Beluga’ colours.
and the chef seemed to do an OK job in the goal position
Out in the water there was loads of weed and it didn’t take much to come up with bits and pieces draped around you! James was nearby with a camera when I surfaced. The visibility was getting worse and worse as the waters warmed up so sometimes it was a bit like snorkelling in soup.
.jpg)
I think that, between Ben, James, Euan and I, we were the bane of the Captains week what with wanting to swim back to the boat, jump off it, swim around and under it (I wanted to see the propellers and rudder, then told James to have a look but when he came back up he popped up right the moving panga, giving the sailor a hell of a fight!). At times there was a flat ‘NO’ from the Captain or Monica, because of sharks, engine being on or whatever. We pushed it one day though as James decided to do one last lap of the boat, there was el Capitan on the bridge clapping his hands and shouting “Vamos!, vamos!” (“Lets go, lets go”) and ordering the poor sailor (who was waving his arms and saying that there still someone in the water) to bring up the anchor. This is James, Euan and Ben doing synchronised jumping.
The frigates followed us for hours on our way from Floreana to Santa Cruz
and James (sitting reading) got shat on three times within the space of about an hour. Brilliant!
I shouldn’t have laughed (sorry James) but it was rather funny.
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