Bernardo, known by his friends and family as Bernie, was born In the Andean city of Quito, located in the highlands of Ecuador. His grandfather, however, moved to the Galapagos Islands in the mid-70s, and worked as one of the first Naturalist Guides,...
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We arrived at Floreana Island early this morning, and we could hear everyone getting ready to go ashore at Punta Cormorant before breakfast. There were blue-footed boobies, flamingoes, and frigates feeding by the shore. We got to a white sandy beach, known as “flour beach”, and there we spotted several green sea turtles, a shark, and a newborn marine iguana. We snorkeled from Zodiacs and had a ride on our glass bottom boat along the coast of Champion Islet. During the afternoon we went to Post Office Bay to kayak and to leave postcards in the wooden barrel as a continuation of an ancient tradition.
We arrived at Academy Bay early in the morning. Santa Cruz Island has a large population of giant tortoises as well as the breeding center for giant tortoises that belongs to the Galapagos National Park. We had a great time observing tortoises in captivity as well as in the wild. We also had a great opportunity to see the saddleback tortoises as well as the dome-shaped carapace. A very important aspect of the archipelago is not only the giant tortoises but also the unusual vegetation, such as the giant daisies and giant prickly pear cacti. We had a great time exploring this island and observing the wildlife as well as spending some time with the local community.