Showing 1-12 of 12 results
-
Cerro Brujo
Perhaps one of the nicest beaches in the Galápagos is Cerro Brujo - a huge expanse of fine white sand that feels like sifted flour between your toes. It's home to a colony of sealions and blue-footed boobies, and you'll find egrets and great blue herons behind the beach in a lagoon. There's also great snorkeling in the turquoise waters.
-
Charles Darwin Research Institute
This research station contains a national park information center, an informative museum, a baby tortoise house with incubators where you can see hatchlings and young tortoises, and a walk-in adult tortoise enclosure where you can meet the Galápagos giants face-to-face. The tiny tortoises are repatriated to their home islands when they are about four years old - some 2000 have been sent home so far.
-
El Chato Tortoise Reserve
This is the place to observe giant tortoises in the wild. It's also a good spot to look for short-eared owls, Darwin's finches, yellow warblers, Galápagos rails and paint-billed crakes. The trail leads through private property to parkland about 3km (1.9mi) away, then forks in two directions. To the right is the small hill of Cerro Chato; to the left is La Caseta. Horses can be hired in Santa Rosa.
-
El Junco Lagoon
El Progreso is a village at the base of Cerro San Joaquín (896m/2940ft), the highest point on San Cristóbal. From here, travel east along a dirt road to El Junco Lagoon, a freshwater lake. You can see frigate birds shower (to remove the salt from their feathers), white-cheeked pintails and common gallinules. The weather is typically misty or rainy, so come prepared.
-
Highlands Lava Tubes
These underground tunnels are more than 1km (0.6mi) in length and were formed when the outside skin of a molten-lava flow solidified. When the flow ceased, the molten lava kept moving inside, emptying out of the skin and leaving tunnels. They're on private property and can be visited without an official guide - the owners of the land provide information, guides and flashlights. Tours are also offered in Puerto Ayora.
-
Interpretation Center
This modern and easily digestable center explains the history and significance of the Galápagos better than anywhere else in the country. Exhibits deal with the biology, geology and human history of the islands - it deserves a visit even if you've been inundated with facts from boat guides. From the center there are also many well-marked trails that wind around the cactus and scrub of Cerro de las Tijeretas (Frigatebird Hill).
-
Isla Genovesa
Lovers of the goofy red-footed booby won't want to miss this northeasternmost point of the Galápagos. Watch your feet - it's easy to miss a fluffy little baby booby or a camouflaged iguana while scanning the horizon for sperm whale or the elusive Galápagos owl. The island covers only 14 sq km (9 sq mi) and requires a trip over the equator to get there.
-
Isla Santa Fé
This petite island (24 sq km/15 sq mi) is a popular destination for day trips. There's good anchorage in an attractive bay on the northeast coast and a choice of two trails. One leads to a towering stand of opuntia cactus - some are over 10m (33ft) high. The other, more strenous, trail winds into the highlands where the Santa Fé land iguana (found nowhere else in the world) can be seen.
-
Los Gemelos
The twin craters of Los Gemelos, which are actually sink holes, not volcanic craters, are a highlight of the Santa Cruz highlands. Surrounded by Scalesia forest, vermilion flycatchers are often seen here (as well as short-eared owls on occasion). Although the craters lie only 25m (82ft) and 125m (410ft) on either side of the road, they're hidden by vegetation - ask your driver to stop at the short trailhead.
-
Puerto Egas
Puerto Egas is one of the most popular sites in the Galápagos - a long, flat, black lava shoreline where eroded shapes form lava pools, caves and inlets that house a great variety of wildlife. It's a great place to see colonies of marine iguanas basking in the sun and hundreds of Sally Lightfoot crabs attracting hunting herons. The inlets are also a favorite haunt of the surprisingly agile Galápagos fur sealions.
-
Advertisement
-
Punta Espinoza
Just across Canal Bolívar, Punta Espinoza houses marine iguanas (too many to count) which can be seen sunning themselves on the black lava formations - a dramatic sight that looks like a museum diorama on dinosaurs come to life. Flightless cormorants nest nearby and Galápagos penguins, turtles and sealions can be seen frolicking in a fine display of multispecies tolerance in the nearby lagoon.
-
Volcán Wolf
Not only is Isla Isabela the largest Galápagos island, but its imposing skyline of grumbling volcanoes makes it the most striking. Volcán Wolf is the highest point in the Galápagos, standing at 1707m (5600ft), and is one of the most active volcanos on the archipelago - young lava covers the caldera floor. Ten eruptions have occurred between 1797 and 1982. The 1982 eruption saw fountains of lava emanating from vents before rising over the rim.
Showing 1-12 of 12 results
