Friedo

Ken and I went on the optional pre breakfast 6:30am walk on Floreana. The area is known as Punta Cormorant though no cormorants are there. Kids were out cold so we let them sleep. We landed on a green (olivine) sand beach which glitters when the sun shines on it. We walked to another beach, this one white sand. We saw the flipper of a large sea turtle as it threw sand out of it's hole to prepare for laying eggs. We saw blue footed boobies with their babies and flamingos feeding in a large salt pond.
We came back for breakfast and then went back out for a zodiac tour of Champion Islet - a small offshore volcanic cone. There was one alcove with many curious and playful sea lions swimming all about. We looked for the Floreana mockingbird but did not see it.
Ken and Jace went on the 10:45am deep water drift snorkel near that alcove and had a great time! They saw sea lions, of course, but also saw a white tip reef sharks, star fish and king angel fish. Cooper, Addey and I sat this one out. I took a nap! Between the dramamine I took last night, early mornings, and high level of activity, I was sleepy!.
After lunch (Mexican today), the kids did their global explorers activity, filling out postcards which will make sense in a bit.
At 3pm, a small group of us went out kayaking. Addey and I took a double kayak, Ken and Cooper too another, and Jace a single. We saw shadows of Eagle rays, sea turtles, adorable young swimming sea lions and enjoyed the beautiful teal water. Cooper and Jace got a little bored with this activity but the rest of us loved it! From there we went to Post Office Bay where we did a wet landing at the beach and walked a short ways to the 'post office' which is actually a barrel still used for an old mail swap tradition going back to the late 1700s. The kids 'sent' their postcards and we looked through the cards that were there. We found one for Royal Oak and will deliver it when we get home. 😁 The kids played on the beach with the other kids from our group for an hour, and they all had a blast.
Before dinner we had wine on the sun deck and then went down to the lounge for our nightly recap/lectures. Tonight the resident photographer talked about tips for taking photos then we learned about the Lindblad /Nat Geo Artisan Fund projects supporting local artists. These talks tend to be too long-winded, especially for the kids but really for all of us!
Kids got a surprise pizza and movie night in the lounge and adults had a nice meal together in the dining room. We really like all of our fellow travelers. We have been sitting with different people at most meals. The last couple nights we have sat with Laura and Rubin, from Indiana - both work at Purdue - and her mother Judy who lives in Portage, MI.
Ken and I looked at the stars, from the top deck, after dinner - beautiful!Read more