Galapagos Islands
WESTERN ISLANDS
BARTOLOME
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- One of the most popular islands.
- Point of Interest: Pinnacle Rock and the sweeping panoramic views of Sullivan Bay from a nearby hilltop.
- Beautiful white beaches and great places for snorkeling.
- Animals: Penguins, turtles (Jan-Mar), lava lizards, and white stripped reef sharks.
SANTIAGO
- Famous for its seaward caves which shelter Galapagos fur-seals, its dramatic coastline and its lava flows are polished by the sea.
- Point of Interest: Puerto Egas, the only settlement.
- Great place for snorkeling.
RABIDA
- A small but beautiful island.
- Its shores have a stunning contrast between the red-tinted sand of its beaches and the vivid green of its mangroves.
- Many people's favorite snorkeling site.
- Animals: Sea-lions, blue footed boobies, pelicans.
ISABELA
- Largest island in the archipelago (sea-horse shape).
- You could find several volcanoes rearing up from the ocean.
- Point of Interest: the old buccaneer and whalers' cove of Tagus Cove.
- The visitor center at Puerto Villamil houses a tortoise rearing project.
- Animals: Giant tortoises, penguins, large marine iguanas, flamingos, and flightless cormorants
FERNANDINA
- Here you can observe the lava flows from recent eruptions. (last May 2005)
- Animals: flightless cormorant and the biggest marine iguanas.
EASTERN ISLANDS
NORTH SEYMOUR
- It is the bird kingdom.
- Visitors path takes you right past them, where every square inch of land and trees are inhabited by parents and chicks or courting couples.
- Animals: Frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, sea lions.
SANTA CRUZ
- Most populous island in the archipelago.
- Charles Darwin Research Center at Puerto Ayora.
- Highlands with endemic vegetation.
- Points of Interest: Tortuga Bay and Bachas beaches, sightseeing points for Black Turtle and Dragon Hill, and lava tubes.
- Animals: large colonies of Giant Galapagos tortoises, which can be visited in the wild.
SANTA FE
- The flattest island of the archipelago.
- Good view of the giant Opuntia (or Prickly Pear) forest.
- Animals: Galapagos hawks, various species of finches, sea-lions, turtles, and endemic sub-species of land iguanas.
SAN CRISTOBAL
- The island’s main town Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the administrative capital of Galapagos.
- Points of Interest: Pitt Point, the haunting Kicker Point, the Junco lagoon.
- Great place for snorkeling.
- Animals: three types of boobies (blue-, and red-footed, masked), giant tortoises.
FLOREANA
- One of the most famous islands due to the mysterious murders that took place there in 1930s.
- Post Office with its famous post barrel.
- Floreana includes many species of endemic vegetation such as the only flowering mangroves in the world.
- Great place for snorkeling.
- Animals: flamingos, sea lions.
ESPAÑOLA
- Stunning landscape include white-sand beaches and rocky outcrops.
- Points of Interest: Blow-hole and Suarez Point.
- Animals: colonies of waved albatross, largest colony of blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos, masked boobies, marine iguanas cactus finch, marine bird life and Galapagos doves.
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