Puerto Velasco Ibarra on Floreana Island in the Galapagos has the smallest human settlement on the islands, due to the scarcity of fresh water. We take a chiva, which is an open-sided bus, up to Asilo de la Paz, the location of a very small fresh water spring, which has to support the 130 odd inhabitants of the island. The area also has a giant tortoise corral, which has introduced species of tortoise – the endemic Floreana tortoise is now extinct.
There seems to be an unwritten rule in the Galapagos that when the sun is out, the snorkelling is terrible. Visibility today is poor, and it is another short session in the water, the highlight being an eagle ray winging its way off into the murky water beyond the point. These are beautiful creatures, with a bird like head and a mottled back with small white spots.
In the afternoon, we motor to Punta Cormorant, where ironically there aren’t any cormorants. There is however a large salt water lagoon, with sizeable pink salt deposits around the edges. There used to be 20-30 flamingos in this lagoon, which no longer visit the area, and no-one seems to know why. Further on past the lagoon, we reach the beach on the other side of the island. This is a pretty, sandy beach, with lots of sting-rays in the water. Sea turtles also nest in this area, and the occasional turtle head bobs up in the surf as we avoid their nesting sites along the beach.
