I slept really well last night and I do not wake until the alarm goes off at 06.15. It is a beautiful day. Clear blue sky and green hills rising out of an azure sea, which is flat calm. The sun has already made the stainless steel handrails too hot to touch. We make a wet landing on the golden tan sand of Cormorant Point on Floreana.

I take lots of views on my phone. It is truly gorgeous here. The sand sparkles because it contains grains of peridot and shells and corals that have washed up on the beach have been collected into a little treasure trove.

Blue-footed boobies nest behind the beach and we also spot a well-camouflaged striated heron.

We set off on the trail …..

….and come to a large brackish lake….

….and are delighted to see a large number of flamingoes. They are very richly coloured and clearly finding lots of shrimp to eat.

We reluctantly say our farewells to them and continue across the island, drinking copious amounts of water on route. My word it is hot. It is an easy trail but with some inclines and there are great views from the centre of the island.

The vegetation seems lusher here and there are plants that we have not seen elsewhere.

We continue to a spectacular stretch of sand on the leeward shore. The water is crystal clear. I take off my sandals and paddle. The cool of the water is so welcome and I luxuriate in it and feel it gradually lowering my body temperature.

Stingrays patrol the beach and swim past our feet. There are loads of turtles in the sea. This beach is a nesting site. We do not see any turtle hatchlings but I do see some indents where there are nests.

Just half an hour break and then we go snorkelling off Champion Islet. This is a deep water snorkel and the sea life is astonishing. Shoals and shoals of different fish. A boobie torpedoing into the water yards away from me and then…..sea lions. Everywhere. They are playful and I spend pretty much the whole time snorkelling with them. Completely magical.

I am sitting in my cabin writing postcards to post home from Post Office Bay later this afternoon. This is how sailors communicated before post. They left messages in a barrel and crews from any passing boat would pick up the messages to deliver by hand when they reached the mainland. The tradition continues today with tourists writing cards and hoping another tourist lives near the address and will hand deliver it. I have sent three cards. Let’s see how long they take to arrive……

I’ve literally just finished writing when there is a knock on my cabin door. A large pod of dolphins have been sighted. They are a long way off but we can see them jumping and playing.

After lunch we have a boat ride to Baronesa’s Bay. We watch sea lions playing in the water, there are a few blue-footed boobies and we spot two huge blue herons. We drive into the mangroves in the hope of seeing young sharks but actually find three beautiful eagle rays. We cruise round the bay in the panga and then go ashore. We post our cards in the postbox. We also go through all the cards in the box to see if we can hand deliver any.

I spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach – chatting in the water and snorkelling. I see two large turtles, a baby shark swimming along the beach and several puffer fish.

Our latest after dinner activity has been to stand on deck and look for sharks. Tonight there is a spectacular display. The sea bubbles with small fish and periodically flying fish leap across the water. They are fast, but not as fast as the pursuing sea lions. Large Galapagos sharks are also present. They swim more slowly and look like they are hoping to pick up the fallout from the sea lions hunting.

On one occasion a large group of sea lions surround the flying fish which leap across the water in all directions looking very much like a firework display.

Tonight there was a beautiful sunset. The clouds seem to mimic the adjacent hillsides. This was followed by the moon rising and glistening across the calm ocean.