YouTube video by Nate Buchanan documenting Day 6 of a Galapagos cruise. The clip covers visits to Post Office Island (Floriana) including the historic wine-barrel mailbox tradition (established 1793), a walk through a lava tunnel, and an extended snorkeling encounter with very playful sea lions at Champion Island — a highlight the narrators call one of the best hours of their lives. The video also briefly shows other wildlife (blue-footed boobies, flamingos) and the group returning to the boat.
Questions this video answers
1793.
April 19, 2017.
Chapters
Hey.
It's the dance.
It is another beautiful day aboard the Natural paradise and the Galapagos Islands. This trip is going by way too fast. Time needs to slow down.
This morning we are jumping on a dinghy and heading over to the closest island of Post Office Island. It has an actual name to the island of Floriana where we're going to see the first ever post office that was established here on the Galapagos. Apparently it's pretty unique. And then after the post office, we are going to go down into the center of the earth through a lava tunnel.
We're entering the lava tunnel.
Doing good. Jan, let us know if there's any man eating animals down there that evolved on the Galapagos. Your pasta, I don't know, maybe. But if it is, it's awfully small.
Just a little recap. We are 200 meters under the earth in a lava tunnel that the lava used to make its way out of the earth.
We made it back to the sunshine, forgot how hot it was. That was awesome.
So in 1793 is when this post office was first established. It was the first post office on all of the Galapagos. And when sailors and whalers would come through the Galapagos, one of them, we don't know who, left a wine barrel, cut a small square in it and that became the first, I guess like mailbox in the Galapagos. And so you don't need a stamp, you don't need anything. All you do is you leave your letter inside of the mailbox. And then when other people, well, as the tradition started, as other sailors or whalers would come through, they would see what was in the post office and if they were going that direction, they would grab it and take it with them and hand deliver it. So the tradition has continued. Today people leave postcards or other letters inside and then you can go through them. And if you find one that's in your city or somewhere you're going, you can take it and deliver it. But you have to hand deliver it. You can't put it back in the mail. You literally have to take it to the person's house and hand them the letter. So we have written postcards to our parents, hoping that one day they'll be hand delivered. And then we're going to go through and see if there's any in the areas that we'll be visiting within the next few weeks that we can take to people.
Hope these get delivered.
Sweden Montreal so we've pulled out all the postcards, everybody's going through Them and giving them to people who might be close to it. Somebody found one from Tennessee. It's Alexandria, Tennessee, and I'm not sure where that is. We're gonna hold onto it.
Pick one and that'll tell me where to go next. Exactly. Australia.
We didn't end up taking one because we're not gonna be home until June and we have no idea where those places are. I'm really sad. I really wanted to deliver a postcard. Now we're getting back on the.
I'll be here for the next hour just relaxing and reading my book before we go snorkeling.
That was a crazy way to start. That is the biggest stingray I have ever seen.
Sam.
So after lunch, we sailed about 30 minutes from post Office Bay to Champion island, which is right behind me. We're about to snorkel all the way around the island. Apparently, there's supposed to be a ton of sea lions, and if we're lucky, we get to encounter them in the water.
This is the greatest moment of my entire life.
Is this not the best? This is so good.
I never would have moved. So much better than I could have ever imagined. Just play.
It's. It's.
It's too good.
It.
I seriously. I seriously could not stop smiling. That was, like, the most fun hour of my life ever.
I couldn't stop smiling while I was wearing my mask. And I kept getting water in my mask. It was truly magical.
Like an hour of just playing with hundreds of sea lines.
And every single second I was like, is this really happening? They were so playful. And majority of the time we've seen sea lions, they've been sleeping on the beach, which is super fun as well. But this was just on another level.
I mean, they would just swim, like, right up to your face. Swim with you, go under you.
They were so funny. They'd just really lay on their back, or they'd hold onto their fins, like in a little ball and just float there. Then they'd fight with each other.
Nate would swim down and they would follow him down.
That one hour is worth coming to the Galapagos.
You are very scary. Go to Champion Island.
You go to Champion island. And then you could just leave.
You might want to stay for some more. But, like, seriously, that was so good.
And then we have hot chocolate. I'm just so happy.
That was like. I don't know what to say. Besides, it was the best. We talk about moments. That was a huge moment, an hour long moment. Maybe one of the best moments. And now we are about to change clothes and then we're gonna go explore Floriana Island.
Punta Cormorat is the name of this place.
Floriana, Sam.
At that.
It's.
Today has been too good. Swimming with the sea lions was just like, incredible. And then being so close to the blue footed boobies and the flamingos while the sun was setting. Perfect way to end an amazing time. Now we're getting on the dinghy and heading back to the boat for what I assume will be a delicious thing.
That's really scary.
Made it back to the sunshine. Forgot how hot it was out here. That was a nice. There's a bird right above your head.
