Galapagos - Baroness Outlook (Floreana)

click image to enlarge

All of Day 5 (Tuesday, Sept. 2nd) was spent on Floreana Island. Our afternoon activity was a Zodiac ride, wet landing and hike to Baroness Lookout.

In the 1930’s Floreana became a setting for intrigue and mystery. A German dentist and his mistress, a young family (the Wittmer family who still live on the island) and self proclaimed baroness with three men came to settle in the island. Shortly after the baroness and her lovers arrived chaos began. They terrorized the other inhabitants while planning to build a luxury hotel.

Eventually, the baroness, her two lovers and the dentist all turned up missing or dead. There has been much investigation searching for what really happened on Floreana, but there have never been any hard answers. For this reason, Floreana is referred to as the “island of mystery”.

The landing site in the afternoon was supposedly used by the baroness to spot ships that would come to visit these “eccentric” residents of Floreana. From there we had a hike to the lookout. Due to the wet landing, we had our Teva shoes on. We definitely suggest footwear such as that since the last portion of the hike is along a steep incline with stairs built into the path that are quite a distance apart. Make sure to bring your hiking stick with you for this activity.

Once arriving at the lookout, we had a magnificent view of the surrounding area. There is a wooden platform at the top so you can rest a bit before returning to the Zodiacs.

This was one of the more picturesque spots that we visited during our Galapagos journey. Be sure to visit Galapagos - Baroness Lookout and our other photo albums for more pictures.

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Additional Photos can be found on our Exotics Shutterfly page

Connect With Us On

        

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers

Galapagos - Cormorant Point (Floreana)

click on image to enlarge

Floreana Island is the sixth-largest island in the archipelago and one of four that Charles Darwin visited while aboard the HMS Beagle. In 1832 Ecuador annexed the islands and established the first human settlement. It soon turned into a penal colony as many political and other prisoners were sent there. The island was the first capital of Galapagos during the 19th century.

Day 5 began with a wet landing on a beach that has a large amount of Olivine crystals that were part of the volcanic history of the site, known as Punta Cormorant (Cormorant Point). We placed our snorkeling gear on the beach and proceeded inland eventually arriving at a brackish pond where we observed pink flamingos. Sea Turtles nest on this island. We saw their tracks on the beach.

Following our hike, we went snorkeling and swimming. Sea Lions played with us in the water making for an enjoyable morning in the water. After two hours we returned to the ship. Those that wanted to do an advanced snorkel left for Champion Island where they were able to snorkel with Sea Lions, Spotted Eagle Rays, and Green Sea Turtles.

In my next post, we'll continue with the afternoon activities. Before continuing our journey, view our Galapagos - Cormorant Point album.

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Additional Photos can be found on our Exotics Shutterfly page

Connect With Us On

        

Sign-up for Exclusive Email Offers