I will have a whole post about Floreana coming soon because wow was this island in the Galapagos a doozy that I fully underestimated...but for right now we're just going to take a look at the hotel that I stayed at, the Hotel Wittmer. This was a tricky little place to get to. Just getting to the island itself proved to be a bit troublesome since I wasn't on a tour, I was just going by myself to explore on my own. I scoured the internet and found an e-mail for the ferry/boat I would need to take as well as an e-mail for the owner of this hotel. Both of which you have to e-mail for reservations. I don't even think the Wittmer has a website. The price I paid in 2023 was $35 for one person for the night which I would later find out was a steal, especially for what I got. Two ladies that I met the next morning said theirs was much more than that and they weren't even on the water.
What the Hotel Wittmer lacked in AC (boy was it HOT) it made up for in literally everything else. It sits right on the beach; you can see it in the window by my bed in the first picture to your right, the third picture is of the breathtaking sunset that evening, taken from my room in the hotel. The room itself was beautiful, there was a small balcony with a hammock (second picture) which I would have loved to be in but the wasps were crazy this time of year and I didn't want to get stung, Erika (the owner) was sweet and helpful, and it was located only a pretty short walk from Island check-in. There were also two cute cats outside! None of the Ecuadorian cats wanted anything to do with me. I typically make cat friends everywhere but the kitties in this part of the world just hated me. I was very sad.
The view from the entrance to the room was also stunning; a beautiful panoramic of the Cerro Pajas Volcano. I did end up joining a tour group to go up there to see the turtle reserve and some other landmarks, but again, I'll be covering all of that in my blog entry in 2 weeks. There wasn't a single spot on this island that wasn't photogenic and with a population of only around 100 people, it was like having the island to yourself when the tour group wasn't around.
This is the black sand beach that the hotel is on. Here I was able to see sea lions right on the shore, zayapas (they look like crabs to me but I've been told they're NOT crabs), Galapagos penguins, pelicans, herons, marine iguanas and blue footed boobies. In fact I was swimming while the blue footed boobies were diving in to catch their meals. It was a surreal experience. And all of this was without taking more than 20 steps from my hotel. On other parts of the island I also swam alongside turtles! I guess you can also see rays and sometimes sharks here too, but I never saw either.
I highly recommend staying here if you plan on visiting Floreana and I also recommend checking out my blog post where I go more in-depth on what my experience was like here because I was FULLY unprepared for how remote this island is and how that affects how it operates.
For the ferry I contacted Peter at goexpeter@gmail.com
For the Hotel Wittmer I contacted Erika at erikagarciawittmer@hotmail.com
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