Floreana was the first island to be colonised by Ecuador in 1832. The name "Floreana" pays tribute to Juan José Flores, the first president of Ecuador, under whose government the islands were acquired. (Source: http://www.galapagos.org)
We first took a bus to Asilo de la Paz, a 450m hill in the agricultural area of the island. A corral has been built by the Galápagos National Park to hold tortoises from various islands in captivity.
A few steps away is a freshwater spring that provides fresh water to residents (of 100) on the island. This is a novelty because most of the other islands do not have fresh water.
Not far away is a cave where the first settlers of the island first resided and along with it, a scandalous story which is too messy to be retold here. More significantly, however, the first Galápagos citizen, Rolf Wittmer, was born here.
From Asilo de la Paz, we took the bus to Cerro Allieri for a panorama view a collapsed crater, volcanoes and the bay.
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| View of volcanoes and Postal Bay |
At the port, we saw a brightly coloured marine iguana - which meant that it was a male and it was the season for mating.
After lunch, 5 minutes into my nap, I was woken up by the bell. 2 whales have been spotted. Then, many leaping manta rays and sea lions joined in the party. In many senses, we were very fortunate to be guests of the Galápagos.
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| Photo credit: Jack |
Photo credit: Jack
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