Floreana – Galapagos Islands

In case you missed it, last week I began a blog series about the trip my husband and I took to the Galapagos Islands through Friendly Planet .  The first post was about our adventures in Santa Cruz.

A lot of people were curious after last weeks post about how close we were to the animals and if we could pet them etc.  To answer that question, if you are looking for hands-on encounters with animals, then the Galapagos is NOT for you.  While we were hiking, or even visiting the turtle reserve the importance of observing from a distance and not approaching nor interfering with the wildlife/nature in any way was made very clear.  That being said, often times the animals didn’t seem bothered by our presence, and would move in our direction and end up fairly close to us.  The Galapagos Islands are so unique and it is crucial for visitors to respect the conservation efforts if we want these incredible places to exist in the future.

After our adventures in Santa Cruz, we took a boat to Floreana which ended up being my favorite of the three islands we visited.  All of the islands were wonderful in their own way, but Floreana was closer to how I pictured a trip to the Galapagos.  This island was much less built up than Santa Cruz, and was a beautiful escape from everyday reality.

Our accommodations for the night were through the Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge, and we stayed in these cute little cabins.  You can see our luggage waiting for us outside the room… we brought our own snorkel sets (though they were provided while we were there, but double check before you go in case this has changed), and both of us brought a duffle bag, and a backpack.

Travel to Galapagos Islands
Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge

 

We did some snorkeling off the beach (wetsuits & beach towels were provided too!  I packed my own of both since I wasn’t sure if they would be… but again, if you’re heading there, you may want to double check that that’s still the case).  The snorkeling was a lot of fun and we saw a sea turtle!  Unfortunately the water clarity was fairly low on that day, so my underwater photos didn’t turn out very well.

The next part of our journey was a tour of the island.  I again wasn’t sure what to expect; here’s a picture of our ride:

Travel to Galapagos Islands
Island tour bus

I really enjoyed the island tour, and we saw a lot.  Just a note though, if you are prone to motion sickness I’d recommend taking medication before this, and consider sitting in one of the front rows of seats.  The roads were quite bumpy.

 

The island was full of so much unique natural beauty:

Travel to Galapagos Islands
Floreana landscape

 

Travel to Galapagos Islands
Floreana

 

And then… we came upon one not so natural (or partially natural?) piece of landscape…  the famous rock carving thought to have been done by one of the earliest settlers of the island.

Travel to Galapagos Islands
Floreana – carved stone

Our adventures in Floreana were fairly quick, and I would have loved to stay longer but we were excited to continue onto explore in Isabela.  Stay tuned for next Monday’s post which will be all about Isabela!

Tips/Advice

Bring motion sickness pills!  Boating between islands did get a bit rough for those prone to sea sickness.

Pack lightly – it makes life easier when packing up and traveling island to island every couple days.

Bring hiking shoes, and beach shoes

 

16 COMMENTS

  1. Shaun | 8th Mar 17

    Ugh! So jealous of this trip. This is on my travel list and have no plans on ticking it off anytime soon.

  2. Hannah | 8th Mar 17

    This is lovely. It’s great to see you and your husband’s passion for travel! And yes, motion sickness tips are god-sends! I can’t not imagine boat rides and bumpy car rides without them!!

  3. Evie | 8th Mar 17

    This is wonderful – what an adventure! But I can’t believe people want to pet the animals? Pity about the visibility of the snorkelling but seeing a turtle is really cool.

  4. Becky Angell | 8th Mar 17

    Ah this brings back fond memories from the Galapasos Islands, I did 5 days on a boat so totally different trip to you but one day I would love to go back and try a more land based trip. Good tip re travel pills!

    • Christie | 8th Mar 17

      That sounds awesome! I’d love to go back someday and do more of a boat trip :)

  5. Gabor | 8th Mar 17

    I want to visit Galapagos island since I was 5 years old and seen the documentaries of David Attenborough explaining about these huge old turtles. I am so jealous of you and I hope one day I can tick this off of my bucket list. Nice post by the way.

  6. Sherianne | 8th Mar 17

    The cabin looks great! Love that the animals are not afraid of people. It sounds well organized too, great tips.

  7. Amanda | 8th Mar 17

    What a great little island! Seems like there’s a lot to explore there. Swimming with sea turtles is one of my favourite things, I’ll have to add this to my list of places to go!

  8. Suruchi | 10th Mar 17

    Galapagos seem to be a small beautiful Island. I Love traveling with my husband and the series of tripping and writing with him is a great idea. That semi-natural carving on the rock is beautiful and swimming with turtles will be such a fun.

  9. Ami | 10th Mar 17

    I am so glad that you clarified the bit about allowing the animals to be by themselves and not expecting a close encounter. A lot of people need to be told that. I love that natural carved head…are there lots of those on the island?

    • Christie | 14th Mar 17

      I think that’s the only one on the island, pretty cool though!

  10. Fábio Inácio | 11th Mar 17

    Glad to know Galapagos don’t let the people go close and interfere with the wildlife… We need to respect the nature :)
    The place looks wonderful, I love everything about wild and nature. The carved stone are awesome!

  11. Rebecca | 11th Mar 17

    Thanks for the tips. The Galapagos is high on my bucket list and I hope to visit in the next couple of years. I can’t imagine people would want to pet the wild animals. The best part of nature is observing animals in their natural habitat without human interaction :)

  12. Sandy N Vyjay | 12th Mar 17

    Galapagos island has always mesmerized me by it’s scenic beauty. You have had a great adventure it seems. The rock carving is marvelous.The place is a wonder of bio-diversity.

  13. Emily | 13th Mar 17

    I’ve always been so keen to visit the Galapagos! Such a beautiful place. I’m so glad that people aren’t allowed to touch the animals (some people are so disrespectful to other creatures!). It’s great that you can have such a variety of experiences there from snorkelling to hiking. Thanks for the tips.

  14. Where Monica Goes | 13th Mar 17

    I envy your trip with your husband to the Galapagos! Such a beautiful piece of earth and I cannot wait to travel there as well. I like how rich the flora and fauna is. And oh, what a nice revelation it is in the end. The carved stone looks humongous!

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