Galap a gogo: 7th May: Floreana Island/Post Office Bay

One of the advantages of cruising the islands is that the ship travels overnight, so that when we woke up we were already anchored off Floreana Island. Breakfast at 6:30, excursion at 7:30. Like most days, it was a wet landing, which means that the panga took us close to shore and then we had to wade through the sea onto the beach. Floreana has a couple of hotels but very few people live on the island, and the northern coast that we visited is only accessible by cruise ship (not day boats). What's more, each cruise ship is allocated a specific itinerary, with strict times when they are allowed to drop anchor and visit the island, and consequently most times there are no other cruise ships in sight.

Post Office Bay is quirky and offers a bit of light-hearted fun. A barrel was set up in 1793 by whalers leaving mail for passing ships to collect, whose crew would hand-deliver the letters to their destination. Today the tradition is carried on by tourists. I left two postcards and took one home with me. I thought this was great fun until I made a wasted journey to Tunbridge Wells only to find that the person hadn't lived there for 4 years, even though the card was dated this year. My post card arrived at its destination but disappointingly had used the mail system. I guess I'm just a stickler for rules.

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We took a short hike up to 'Mirador de la Baronesa' (Baroness's Lookout) where she often sat watching for passing ships Floreana has a troubled history stemming from a small group of Europeans who inhabited the island in the early 1920s, including a flamboyant lady who called herself 'The Baroness'. Their story involves mystery, a love triangle, death and possibly murder and is recounted in a documentary film called The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden . It makes fascinating watching, although I'm sure Hollywood could do a kind-of Out Of Africa version. Maybe they won't let them film on the Galapagos Islands.