Floreana Island

Ecuador / Galapagos / Puerto Ayora /
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Floreana was named after Juan José Flores, the first president of Ecuador, during whose administration the government of Ecuador took possession of the archipelago. It is also called Santa Maria after one of the caravels of Columbus. It is one of the islands with the most interesting human history and one of the earliest to be inhabited. Pink flamingos and green sea turtles nest (December to May) in this island. The "patapegada" or Galápagos petrel is found here, a sea bird which spends most of its life away from land. At Post Office Bay, since the 18th century whalers kept a wooden barrel that served as post office so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination mainly Europe and the United States by ships on their way home. At the “Devil's Crown”, an underwater volcanic cone, coral formations are found.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floreana_Island
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   1°17'25"S   90°25'51"W

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  • This island has around 70 local residents but apart from a few vacancies for accommodation it is mainly for campers who arrive with their own food rations. The island has also the longest inhibitors if anywhere in Galapagos and is famous for a series of magazine articles and books published about the Galapagos affair in the 1930s, including one by Margaret Wittmer who was involved during the love scandals and who died recently aged 95. The main landmarks of note are Devil's Crown, a volcano submerged below the waters with a set of pointed peaks which to the eye emerge as a jagged crown. The area is surrounded by a host of different marine life including sharks, turtles and fish varieties. At the Northern end of the island lies Punta Cormorant with the landing point on a green colored sand tinted by olivine crystals combined with magnesium and iron deposits. Follow the trail to a lake filled with pink flamingoes to the coastline named Flour beach due to its finite white particles. The Western remote side of the island also has a beach worth viewing and is very tranquil called Black beach and has a small settlement of people.