FLAMINGOS AT FLORENA
The boat has moved from Espanola to Floreana. The good news is that during night the cloud of flies following us from Gardner Beach has made a left turn and disappeared.
Pedro tells us if we’re lucky we might see
some Flamingos today. He tells us that their
sightings are rare in the Galapagos Islands.
I point out in Canada they’re not - we see flocks of them roosting on
the lawns of people celebrating their 40th birthdays. Unlike the ones here we don’t have to sneak
up on them - they just sit there – like tortoises and iguanas
here. I offer to send him some for his
40th birthday. Besides if he likes
birds I’m sure I could arrange to send him a few thousand Canadian Geese –
nobody back home would miss them.
Pedro ignores my offer and informs us
unlike many of the species we’ve seen here flamingos are not native or epidemic
(I think he means endemic) to the island.
Sid puts his hand up and asks if we’re allowed to shoot them. Pedro is a bit flummoxed by this request until Sid points out that
other non-native species such as rats, cats, goats and donkeys are fair game here
– in fact Pedro actually boasts he
shoots feral cats on his day off – a
piece of information that doesn’t go down well with the women in our
group. Sid is on a roll now. What
makes a flamingo more valuable than a cat or a goat? He accuses Pedro of being a “Speciesist” - the animal equivalent of a “racist.”
Several of the women nod in agreement. I
don’t think Pedro has experienced anyone like Sid before. Pedro begins to see
his potential tips flying away on flamingo wings.
to get there – again sort of like Canadapost – but faster. It’s a tradition to leave a postcard there for another tourist to pick up and deliver. So we all have to stand around and read other people’s mail just in case we live nearby. Sid takes a handful which I think is very thoughtful – until I see him tossing them overboard later. He confesses to me he used to work as a letter carrier in Auckland and it’s hard to get rid of old habits.
In the afternoon we board the dinghies for
a snorkeling expedition to Champion Island – a small islet off Santa Cruz. No sharks this time – but an incredible time
swimming with the sea lions. These same fat brown lumps lying around on
the beach are suddenly transformed into graceful aquatic ballerinas the second
they hit the water. They are incredibly
curious and swim right up to your face then zip away only to return again a few
seconds later. We also encounter
Galapagos penguins –small birds that fly underwater like a jet fighter – so
fast you can hardly see them.
We arrive back at the boat after a busy day of hiking and snorkeling only to find out the boat is out of beer! This precipitates the great beer uprising where almost to a person we demand that we immediately up anchor and proceed with all speed to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz to reprovision.
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