More tortoises and those crazy Germans

During the night we sailed to Floreana Island from Santa Cruz Island.  Floreana is another of the few populated islands in the Galapagos, although only a few dozen people live here.  There is a mailbox near the landing where the whalers used to leave mail, and kind sailors returning to the US would pick up the letters and mail them once they reached land.  The mailbox is still in use although one never knows if the mail will be picked up and if it will be delivered.

It was sprinkling as we hiked up a muddy path to a tortoise enclosure.  They move surprisingly fast when they want to, but mostly, they just hang out.



Isla Floreana is relatively flat and is one of the few islands to have fresh water, so various settlers have tried to farm here.  At one point, Floreana was a prison colony but apparently that didn't work out so well.  Go figure.  But beginning in 1929 some German settlers came who were - not to put too fine a point on it - nuts.  The first two were a couple who were each married to someone else.  Looking for the good life, before they left Germany they had all of their teeth pulled out.  He was a doctor and did not want to have to deal with dental problems.  Well, that's one approach.  Also, they had decided to become vegetarians so who needs teeth?  They wrote letters that were highly publicized in Germany so others followed including a woman who said she was a Baroness.  I got very confused by all the names but there was a lot of partner switching, some mysterious disappearances, and maybe murders.  And the original crazies who had all of their teeth pulled ... she went back to Germany and he died from eating pork!  Guess that vegetarian thing didn't work out so well.

We visited the small museum on the island maintained by the descendants of one of the German families.  It was more interesting than one would expect.

Back to the wildlife ... in the afternoon we had our first snorkeling excursion at Devil's Crown, one of the best dive spots in the Galapagos.  It was amazing.  The water was so calm and clear.  There were more tropical fish than I have seen anywhere except Hawaii.  Huge schools of beautifully colored fish swimming all around us.  Periodically turtles or sea lions would swim with us as well, and we saw a few small reef sharks, too.  Several of our group took these pictures with their underwater cameras.





After snorkeling, we went for a walk on Punta Cormorant, one of the loveliest beaches here.  We turned a corner and saw a flock of pink flamingos.





Then we came to a beach where the giant sea turtles lay their eggs.  They waddle up the beach, dig a hole by flopping around, lay their eggs, and then waddle back into the ocean.



They sure have an odd mix of wildlife here.