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Introduction
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For more information about upcoming workshops, visit the Workshops homepage or send an email to grijalva@ohiou.edu
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Isla Floreana By Joan Cunningham
First stop, the tunnel or lava tube. The rather large tunnel was formed from the effects of hot lava cooling down on the surface while still running as molten lava underneath. The hot lava continued running down to sea level until volcanic activity ceased, leaving a rather large tunnel for us to explore many hundreds of years later. First we climbed down about a dozen steep stairs made from 2 X 4’s to gain entrance. From there the tunnel entrance was a steep downgrade made of slippery, grainy tuff (remnants of volcanic ash). The air was close with no breeze and the quarters were tight. With no experience in this type of environment, I quickly became claustrophobic and chose not to follow the rest of my ship companions through the tunnel to the watery end. However, they relayed to me that it was awesome, beautiful, enchanting, mysterious, blah, blah, blah. Well, I missed it.
In the afternoon, we landed on a beautiful olive colored beach (due to green crystals) and walked over a sand ridge to an adjoining sea water lake. As we got to the top, we could see little pink dots in the lake. As we got closer, the pink dots became more bird-like and finally, we saw with great pleasure, beautiful pink flamingoes. These gorgeous birds inhabit only two of the islands. We could hear their calls to each other and saw a baby pink flamingo, which was still white. The birds get their coloring from their diet of shrimp and crustaceans in the lake. As they spread their wings, you can see a darker spot of color on their underwing. Their graceful beauty is breathtaking. It’s hard to imagine that all those tacky bright pink plastic flamingoes at home are based on this natural wonder. After watching the flamingoes for quite awhile, we walked on to another beach of fine off-white sand and waded in up to our ankles to see the sting rays which make the beach unfit for swimming. There they were – in the shallows, half-covered with sand, not really moving, just treading water. It’s hard to describe them and I won’t try. This island, like many here, is made of several volcanic remains, with no mature trees, just lava cacti growing out of places seemingly unable to grow anything and hills covered with Palo santo, a white-barked shrub which smells slightly of incense when wounded.
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On day five, in the morning on the island of Floreana,
we took a short walk after a wet landing to see the island post office and a
volcanic tunnel. This island was the site of colonization of various
European inhabitants who tried to eke out an existence in harsh conditions
but eventually succumbed to mysterious disappearances at sea, jealousy and
murder. The survivors returned to Europe. 
After the tunnel explorers re-surfaced, we visited the
island post office which is a primitive but effective way to send off mail
to loved ones while visiting the island. The “post office” looks like a
tacky monument pasted with tourist graffiti. We left postcards in a plastic
bag inside a protected cabinet in the monument and retrieved postcards from
other visitors who lived close to our home states or countries. The idea is
to mail these retrieved postcards off once we return home and help keep the
post office system working. It is supposedly a very effective system
although there appeared to be a few post cards in the bag that had been
there for years. 
After returning to the ship for a brief respite and
collection of our snorkeling gear, we snorkeled around Devil’s Crown off the
coast of Floreana. Snorkeling conditions were not good, due to the current
and choppiness of the water. Charley, our guide, stayed in the boat instead
of snorkeling himself, better to observe us and not lose a tourist to the
waves. Despite the conditions, I did observe my first white-tip shark and
manta ray in the choppy water.