Galapagos Islands

Santa Cruz View

Santa Cruz is the second largest island in the Galapagos with about 986 km2 of land. A road crosses the island from north to south, giving a good opportunity of seeing some of the highland interior. The highest point of the island is Cerro Crocker at about 864 meters altitude. This island has the highest population and number of tourist facilities of the whole archipelago The small town of Puerto Ayora on the south coast of the island is the economic center of the archipelago. Most visitors to the Galapagos either stay here to arrange a cruise or anchor of the town's famous harbor in Academy Bay.

About a 20 minute walk northeast of Puerto Ayora the Charles Darwin Research Station is based. It includes a national park and a visitor information center One of the highlights of the station is the turtle house where you can see young turtles and hachlings. After they weigh about 1,5 kilos ( after 4 years) they are repatriated to their home islands. Other attractions of the the Darwin Research Station include rare vegetation and a variety of land birds. Southwest of Puerto Ayora lies Turtle Bay which has a very white-sand beach and a spit of land where swimming is possible. On most places of the island, the current is too strong. The wildlife that can be spotted here includes; sharks, marine iguanas and variety of water birds. Thanks to north-south road on the island most of the highland visitor sites can be visited. Among them are the Gemelos, twin craters hidden in a Scalesia forest

Baltra Most visitors arriving by air arrive at Baltra airport. It is a a fairly small island north of Santa Cruz sizing about 27 km2. There are no accomodations, nor visitors sites here, but you can easily get a connection to Puerto Ayora by public or private transportation

Blue Footed Boobies

North Seymour located slightly north of Baltra is a low, flat island, formed as a result of a submarine lava formation it was uplifted. It is covered with low, bushy vegetation, which contains the largest colony of magnificent frigate birds in the Galapagos. There is also a large population of blue-footed boobies that perform an amusing courtship dance, when nesting conditions are right. This goofy stride, picking-up high their blue feet in a slow motion, wing spreading, whistling and honking; is one of the highlight of this island.

Islas Plazas Just of the east coast of Santa Cruz lie the Islas Plazas, a pair of small uplifted islands. These can easily be visited on a day trip. Especially the South Plaza, the largest of the two island, has a unique Sesuvium plant and Opuntia cactus landscape which provides some of the most interesting wildlife observation available in Galapagos. Land iguanas are easily seen from the trail, frequently under the shade of a cactus; waiting for a juicy, pricky pear to fall. Swallow-tailed gulls, along with various other sea birds use the rising air to glide effortlessly over the escarpment. The protected rocky seashore is prime habitat for a large colony of noisy sea lions.