Unfortunately, I
have no chance to visit all islands, and to get an
impression of which might be the most interesting, I done
some research. Then I figured the most interesting might be
out of my reach. Anyway, here are some facts, and those
marked with a star* are those I actually visit:
*Baltra,South
Seymour is currently not within the boundaries of the
Galapagos National Park, because it is an
official
Ecuadorian military base. Baltra is a small flat island
covering 1,9 km2, located near the centre of the Galápagos. The island is very
arid and vegetation consists of salt bushes, prickly pear
cactus and Palo Santo trees.
The Galapagos Land Iguana is
the subject of an active re-introduction campaign on the
island; it became extinct on Baltra in 1954. However, in the
early 1930s, Captain G. Allan Hancock had trans-located a
population of Galapagos Land Iguanas from Baltra to Seymour
Norte, a smaller island just a few hundred metres
north of Baltra. The iguanas survived and became the
breeding stock for the successful Charles Darwin Research
Station captive breeding program. During the 1980s iguanas
from Seymour Norte were brought to the Darwin Research
Station as part of this project and in the 1990s land
iguanas were reintroduced to Baltra. As of 1997 scientists
counted 97 iguanas living on Baltra 13 of which were born on
the islands. Currently it is not uncommon to see iguanas
either crossing the main road or on the runway at the
airport.
*Bartolome,
Bartolom is a volcanic islet just off the east coast of
Santiago Island. It is one of the "younger"
islands in the
Galápagos archipelago. This island, and Sulivan Bay on
Santiago island, are named after naturalist and life-long
friend of Charles Darwin, Sir Bartholomew James Sulivan, who
was a Lieutenant aboard HMS Beagle.
With a total land area of just 1.2 km² and a maximum
height of 114 meters, this island offers
some of the most beautiful landscapes in the archipelago.
The island consists of an extinct volcano and a variety of
red, orange, green, and glistening black volcanic
formations. Bartolome has a volcanic cone that is easy to
climb and provides great views of the other islands. It is
famous for its Pinnacle Rock, which is the distinctive
characteristic of this island, and the most representative
landmark of the Galápagos. It is possible to
snorkel with the penguins, marine turtles, white-tipped reef
sharks, and other tropical fish.
Darwin
is named in honour of Charles Darwin. It is among the
smallest in the Galapagos
Archipelago with an area of just
one square kilometre. Darwin is the remains of an extinct
volcano that reaches 165 meters above sea level. With no dry
landing sites, Darwin Island's main attractions are found in
the Pacific Ocean, which is teeming with a spectacular
variety of marine life.
The island’s waters attract Whale
Sharks from June to November, as well as Hammerhead, Galapagos Silky and Blacktip sharks. In addition Green Turtles, Manta
Rays and Dolphins can be found. The island also supports a
large bird population, including Frigate Birds and
Red-footed Boobies.
Espanola,
Hood is located in the extreme southeast of the archipelago
and is considered, along with Santa Fe, one of the oldest,
at approximately four million years. It is 60 km² with a
height of 205 meters. A popular tourist stop, Española is the most southerly island in
the Galápagos Archipelago. It is about a ten to twelve hour boat
trip from Isla Santa Cruz. Tourists come to see the
albatrosses and the mating dances of blue-footed boobies..
However this island is dying, slowly
becoming a rocky, barren land with little or no vegetation.
But this does give large bays, with sand and soft shingle
which attracts a healthy number of Galapagos Sea Lions.
Two spots are especially popular with visitors: Bahía
Gardner, which has a lovely beach; and Punta Suárez, of
interest because of its varied bird-life. This island has
its own species of animals, such as the Española
Mockingbird, which has a longer and more curved beak than
the one on the central islands; the Española lava lizard;
the Marine Iguana, which has red markings on its back; among
others. Here there are also boobies, Swallow-tailed Gulls
and other tropical birds.
Fernandina,
Narbrough is the third largest, and youngest, island of the
Galápagos. The island
is an active shield volcano
that has been erupting since April 11, 2009. It has an area
of 642 km² and a height of 1,476 meters, with a summit
caldera about 6.5 kilometres wide. The caldera underwent a
collapse in 1968, when parts of the caldera floor dropped
350 meters. A small lake has intermittently occupied the
northern caldera floor, most recently in 1988.
Due to its recent volcanic activity, the island does not present much
plant life and has a mostly rocky surface. Visitors to
Fernandina Island will be taken to see only the outskirts of
the crater for safety reasons. Punta Espinoza is a narrow
stretch of land where hundreds of marine iguanas gather in
large groups on black lava rocks. The famous Flightless
Cormorant inhabits this island as well as penguins, pelicans
and sea lions. Two types of lava flow can be observed, Aā
and Pāhoehoe. Mangrove forests also abound on the island.
*Floreana,
Charles was named after Juan José Flores, the first
president of Ecuador. It is also called Santa Maria after
one of the caravels of Columbus. The island has an area of
173 km² and a maximum height of
640 metres. It is one of
the islands with the most interesting human history and one
of the earliest to be inhabited.
At Post Office Bay, since the 18th century whalers kept a wooden barrel
that served as post office so that mail could be picked up
and delivered to their destination mainly Europe and the
United States by ships on their way home. Cards and letters
are still placed in the barrel without any postage.
Pink flamingos and green sea turtles nest from December to May on this
island. The "joint footed" petrel is found here, a nocturnal
sea bird which spends most of its life away from land. At
the “Devil's Crown”, an underwater volcanic cone, coral
formations are found. At Punta Cormorant, there is a green
olivine beach. Here are see sea lions and a short walk past a
lagoon to flamingos, rays, sea turtles and Ghost- and Sally Light Foot crabs; Grapsus grapsus.
Genovesa,
Tower or Bird occupies about 14 km2, and
its maximum elevation is 64 meters. The horse-shoe shaped
island has a volcanic caldera whose wall has collapsed,
forming the Great Darwin Bay, surrounded by cliffs. Lake Arcturus, filled with salt water, lies in the centre, and
sediment within this crater lake is less than 6,000 years
old. Although no historical eruptions are known from
Genovesa, there are very young lava flows on the flanks of
the volcano.
This island is known as Bird Island, because of the large and varied bird
colonies which nest here. There are an abundance of frigate
birds and it is the best place to see Red-footed Boobies,
Masked Boobies, Swallow-tailed Gulls, Storm Petrels,
tropical birds, finches, and mockingbirds.
Prince Philip’s Steps is an extraordinary steep path that leads through a
seabird colony full of life, up to cliffs that are 25 meters
high. At the top, the trail continues inland, passing more
seabird colonies in a thin Palo Santo forest.
Leaving the
forest, you can overview a rocky plain. The Storm Petrels
here are different from any others in the world because they
fly around during daytime. To avoid predators, they only
return to their nest holes at night. The smallest Marine
Iguana in the archipelago lives here.
In Darwin Bay there is the possibility to either dive along the inner wall
or go to the outer wall, which is less protected. Another
possibility is to dive from the outside of the volcano
through the channel into the caldera.
*Isabela,
Albemarle is the largest island of the Galápagos
with an area of 4,640 square kilometres, and length of 100
kilometres nearly four times larger than Santa Cruz, the
second largest of the islands. It have an altitude of 1,707
meters. This island was named in honour
of Queen Isabella of Spain, who sponsored the voyage of
Columbus.
As one of the youngest islands, Isabela is located near the Galápagos
hotspot. At approximately one million years old, the island
was formed by the merger of six shield volcanoes - Alcedo,
Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf. All of
these volcanoes except Ecuador are still active, making it
one of the most volcanically active places on earth. Two of
the volcanoes, Volcan Ecuador and Volcan Wolf (the island's
highest point), lie
directly on the equator.
The island is primarily noted for
its geology, providing excellent examples of a geologic
occurrence that created the Galapagos Islands including
uplifts at Urvina Bay and the Bolivar Channel, tuff cones at
Tagus Cove, and Pulmace on Alcedo and Sierra Negra, one of
the most active volcanoes in the world.
Isabela is also interesting for its flora and fauna. The young island does
not follow the vegetation zones of the other islands. The
relatively new lava fields and surrounding soils have not
developed the sufficient nutrients required to support the
varied life zones found on other islands. Another obvious
difference occurs on Volcan Wolf and Cerro Azul, these
volcanoes loft above the cloud cover and are arid on top.
Isabela's rich animal, bird, and marine life is beyond compare. Isabela is
home to more wild tortoises than all the other islands.
Isabela's large size and notable topography created barriers
for the slow moving tortoises; apparently the creatures were
unable to cross lava flows and other obstacles, causing
several different sub-species of tortoise to develop. Today
tortoises roam free in the calderas of Alcedo, Wolf, Cerro
Azul, Darwin and Sierra Negra.
Other noted species include penguins, cormorants, marine iguanas, boobies,
pelicans and Sally Lightfoot crabs abound. Galapagos Land
Iguanas and Darwin's finches, Galápagos Hawks, Galápagos
Doves and very interesting lowland vegetation. The west
coast of Isabela in the Bolivar Channel is the best place in
Galapagos for viewing whales and dolphin.
Marchena,
Bindloe has an area of 130 km² and a maximum altitude of
343 meters. There aren't any visitor's sites on this island,
although it is possible to dive in the waters around
Marchena on organised tours.
Most visitors only see it if
they sail around the northern part of Isabela on the way to
Tower Island, its nearest neighbour about 70 kilometres due
west.
Like many of the Galapagos volcanoes, Marchena has a caldera. Its caldera
is roughly elliptical and measures seven kilometres by six
kilometres , within the range of caldera sizes of the large
western volcanoes. Marchena's caldera is unusual, however,
in that it has been almost completely filled with young
lavas, some of which has spilled over and down the sides.
The oldest lavas are 500,000 years old.
Another reason why Isla Marchena is so famous is that, although it is
uninhabited, it was embroiled in the ‘Floreana Mystery’.
Here the dead bodies of Rudolf Lorenz and the captain of the
ship he was on, washed up mysteriously on the shore of the
island and were mummified naturally as there were no natural
predators found here.
Seymour
Norte, North Seymour is a small island just north of
Baltra. The whole island is
covered with low, bushy vegetation. The island is named
after an English nobleman, Lord Hugh Seymour. It has an area
of 1.9 km² and a maximum altitude of 28 metres.
North Seymour has a visitor trail approximately two kilometres in length
crossing the inland of the island and exploring the rocky
coast. The stock for the captive breeding program of the
Galapagos Land Iguana is descended from iguanas which
William Randolph Hearst trans-located from Baltra Island to
Seymour Norte in the 1930s.
This island is home to a large population of blue-footed boobies and
swallow-tailed gulls. It hosts one of the largest
populations of frigate birds.
Pinzon,
Duncan has no visitor sites and a permit is
required to visit. It has an area of 18 km² and a maximum
altitude of 458 meters.
This marks the geographical centre of the Galapagos Islands so it is
surprising that neither of the Galapagos Islands' two main
tree species occur on the island. In the humid zone a unique
species of the daisy tree is found. Pinzòn island is
invaded with a tree called the Red Sand Tree. It is a tree
imported by Zimbabwe.
The island is home to giant tortoises, sea lions and other endemic
species.
Pinta,
Abingdon has an area of 60 km² and a maximum altitude of 777
meters.
The elongated island of Pinta is the northernmost of the active Galapagos
volcanoes. Pinta is a shield volcano with numerous young
cones and lava flows originating from NNW-trending fissures.
Pinta is the original home to Lonesome George,
perhaps the most famous tortoise in the Galapagos Islands.
It is also home to Swallow-tailed Gulls, Marine Iguanas,
hawks, fur seals and a number of other birds and
mammals. The most northern island in the Galapagos, at one
time Isla Pinta had a thriving tortoise population.
Rabida,
Jervis Island named in honour of the 18th-century British
admiral John Jervis. The island has a total area of 4,9 km²
and a height of 367 metres. The island has red sand beaches and a
saltwater lagoon are inhabited by flamingos and a bachelor sea
lion colony. The landscape is studded with small volcanic
craters along sharp slopes and cliffs. In addition to
flamingos and the bachelor sea lion colony, pelicans,
White-cheeked Pintails, boobies, and nine species of finch
have been reported. The rich wildlife attracts a number of
tourists cruises, but not me.
*San Cristobal, Chatham is the
easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, and one
of
the oldest geologically. It has an area of 558 km2 and its
highest point rises to 730 metres. The capital of the
archipelago, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (City
map), lies at the
south-western tip of the island.
This island hosts frigate birds, Galapagos Sea Lions, Galapagos tortoises,
blue and Red Footed Boobies, tropical birds, Marine Iguanas,
dolphins, Swallow-tailed Seagulls. Its vegetation includes
Calandrinia galapagosa, Lecocarpus darwinii, trees
such as Matazarna; Lignum vitae. In the waters nearby are
sharks, rays, and lobsters.
The largest fresh water lake in the archipelago, Laguna El Junco, is
located in a crater in the highlands of San Cristóbal, in
the southern half of the island. The lake harbours a large
population of birdlife, but reaching the lake requires a
short uphill
walk. Nearby, La Galapaguera is a breeding
station and sanctuary for giant tortoises.
Island tourism sites nearer the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno include
the Cerro Tijeretas, a nesting colony for frigate
birds and a statue of Charles Darwin, marking the original
site where he first disembarked in the Galápagos Islands
during the voyage of the Beagle, on 16 September 1835. La Loberia, a colony of sea lions, lies about ten minutes by
bus from the town.
Local boat tours also take visitors to two popular nearby dive sites. Léon
Dormido /Kicker Rock represents the remains of a lava cone,
now split in two. Isla Lobos, sea lion island is also a
nesting site for Blue-footed Boobies.
*Santa
Cruz, Indefatigable is one of the Galápagos Islands
with an area of 986 km² and a maximum height
of 864 metres. Named after the Holy Cross, its English name
(Indefatigable)
was given after a British vessel HMS
Indefatigable. Santa Cruz hosts the largest human population
in the archipelago at the town of Puerto Ayora (City
map). Situated in
the centre of the archipelago, Santa Cruz is the second
largest island after Isabela. Here are some small villages
too, whose inhabitants work in agriculture and cattle
raising. This island is a large dormant volcano. It is
estimated that the last eruptions occurred around a million
and a half years ago.
As a testimony to its volcanic history there are two big holes formed by
the collapse of a magma chamber: Media Luna and Los Gemelos.
Most interesting to me is the Charles Darwin Research
Station and a Giant Tortoise Preserves.
Large populations of Giant Tortoises are found here. Wild Tortoises roam
free crashing through the mist covered guayabillo, pega pega,
and grasses of the humid zone. Flycatchers, finches
and owls fill the Scalesia forests near Los Gremlos. Almost
every bird found in the archipelago has been seen within the
many life zones on Santa Cruz.
At Black Turtle Cove there is a site surrounded by mangroves which sea
turtles, rays and small sharks sometimes use as a mating
area. Cerro Dragon, known for its flamingo lagoon, is also
located here and along the trail one may see Galapagos Land
Iguanas foraging.
Santa
Fe, Barrington is a small island of 24 km² and
a height of 259 metres, which
lies in the centre of the Galapagos archipelago, to the
south east of Santa Cruz Island. Geologically it is one of
the oldest, since volcanic rocks of about four million
years
old have been found. The vegetation of the island is
characterized by the presence of a dense forest of the
largest species of the giant Opuntia cactus.
Santa Fé is home to two species endemic to the island: the Barrington Land
Iguana; Conolophus pallidus and the Santa Fe Rice
Rat; Aegialomys galapagoensis bauri. The visitor site is a
wet landing located in Barrington Bay on the north-eastern
side of the island. Large numbers of sea lions are found on
the beaches in the bay, occasionally hindering peregrination
to the two trails leading from the beach.
Santiago/San
Salvador, James consists of two overlapping
volcanoes, has an area of 585 km² and a maximum height of
907 meters, on the north-western shield volcano.
Sullivan Bay is especially fascinating for those who are interested in
geology and volcanology. You can walk over the un-eroded,
black lava flow covered with lava bubbles and tree-trunk
moulds in the surface. There are two small beaches where
turtles come for nesting.
Cousin's Rock is a well known dive site and is situated off the east coast
of Santiago. It is a triangular rock that rises about ten
meters out of the water and is made up of many layers of
volcanic rock.
Marine Iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, land and sea turtles, flamingos,
dolphins, and sharks are found here. There are a large
number of goats and pigs, animals which were introduced by
humans to the islands and have caused great harm to the
endemic species. Darwin Finches and Galapagos Hawks are
usually seen as well as a colony of Galapagos Fur Seals. At Sullivan
Bay, a recent (1897) pahoehoe lava flow can be observed.
Puerto Egas, south of James Bay and west side of Santiago, is one of the
best sites. There is a long, lava shoreline where eroded
rock formations house an excellent variety of wildlife.
Marine Iguanas bask in the sun while Land Iguanas scatter
around feeding on exposed algae. The tide pools contain many
Sally Lightfoot crabs, which attract other types of hunters.
Following the trail fur seal lions are found. Puerto Egas is
not only a good spot for taking pictures but also perfect
for snorkelling and seeing many species of tropical fish.
Wolf,
Wenman is a small island named after the German geologist
Theodor Wolf. It is situated north west of the main
Galapagos Island group, and has an area of 1.3 km² and
a maximum altitude of 253 meters.
Wolf Island is the remains of an extinct volcano that
reaches a maximum 253 meters above sea level. The island is remote from
the main island group. The Galapagos National Park does not
allow landing on the island, however it is a popular diving
location.
Wolf Island is the southerly island on the lineament. The volcano that
formed Wolf Island is now extinct with last eruptions
believed to have been 900,000–1,600,000 years ago, meaning
the last eruptions occurred before the last eruptions on
Darwin Island.
The marine life of Wolf
Island includes: Schooling Hammerhead, Galapagos and
occasionally Whale Sharks, as well as Green Turtles, Manta
Rays and other pelagic fish. Birdlife on the island is
abundant with Frigate; Red-footed Boobies and the Vampire
Finch; Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis
(subspecies of the Sharp-Beaked Ground Finch) is found on the
island as well as other species.
Daphne
Major is a volcanic island just north of Santa Cruz
Island and just west of the Baltra. It consists of a tuff
crater, devoid of trees, whose rim rises 110 metres above
the sea, covering an area of 0,32 km².
Though easily accessible to most visitors to the Galápagos, the national
park service has highly restricted visits to this island,
and it is primarily used for scientific research.
Daphne is home to a variety of other birds including Galápagos Martins,
Blue-footed Booby, Masked Booby, Short-eared Owls,
Red-billed Tropicbirds and Magnificent Frigate Birds.
Plaza
Sur is a small island off the east coast of Santa
Cruz. It has an area of 0.13 km, and a maximum altitude of
23 meters. Despite its small size it is home to a large
number of species and it is famous for its extraordinary
flora. That is why this island is very popular with
visitors. On the steep banks it is possible to see a great
number of birds such as nesting Red-billed Tropicbirds and
Swallow-tailed Gulls, but most of all, enjoying the
beautiful view from atop the steep banks or strolling along
the base of the cliff is an extremely pleasurable
experience. Very attractive are the beautiful prickly pear
cactus trees and of course the large colony of Galapagos
Land Iguanas. Depending on the season, the Sesuvium
ground vegetation changes its colour from intense green in
the rainy season to orange and purple in the dry season.
settlements: 
being formed. Even older
islands have been driven out to the east and been warn down and engrossed by
the sea. Some indigenous species might have evolved on these
islands. The whole group of islands are moving around two
centimetres a year toward the east on this giant conveyor belt. 
