Floreana Day Tour 

The name of Floreana Island comes after the first president of Ecuador, General Juan Jose Flores when on the 12th of February, 1832 he ordered the Ecuadorian navy to take possession of the archipelago. Previously, it was called Charles Island (after King Charles II of UK), and later it was named as Santa Maria after one of Christopher Columbus ́s ships. The island has an area of 173 square kilometers (67 mil2) and just like the others, it was formed by volcanic eruptions. Its highest point is Cerro Pajas at 640 meters (2,100 ft). Floreana Island has the most interesting human history of the Galapagos Islands. It is where the first “post office” was established in 1793 by whalers, and it was the home to the first Galapagos resident — a bold Irishman named Patrick Watkins who lived there from 1807-1809. Floreana was the first island to be colonized by Ecuadorians in 1832 when a a penal colony was established, which didn’t last long because of the lack of fresh water. A fish canning plant was established there by Norwegian immigrants in 1924. A few years later, Friedrich Ritter, a German doctor, arrived with his female companion Dore Strauch. 

Later a pregnant Margret Wittmer, her husband Heinz and her son Harry arrived in 1932. Floreana is most well-known for being the site of several mysterious disappearances in the 1930s — the one receiving the most attention being that of a supposed Austrian baroness, who had arrived with her three servants shortly after the Wittmers. Nowadays, the majority of Floreana inhabitants make their living by farming and with tourism. There are approximately 120 inhabitants, almost all of them living in the small village of Puerto Velasco Ibarra. The main water source for Floreana is a natural pond that fills up with rain water during the rainy season. Transportation to and from Floreana is very limited.