Visiting its local highlights you will be helping the small community to develop local ecoturism; therefore, increasing also its standard of life, there is a small town in the Coast: Puerto Ibarra with a small Hotel & Restaurant owned by the children & grandchildren of Margaret Wittmer -one of the first German settlers-, there are not taxis on this island, but from here you can take a dump truck to visit the Asilo de la Paz in the highlands to visit the pirate caves were the first settlers lived, if you decide to visitthis island you will have to stay there may be at least 15 days until the local Ferry Boat (or another passing tourist-ship)returns -each 15 days- from Santa Cruz to pick you up to San Cristobal, and then you can take a flight to Quito orGuayaquil in the Mainland. Many interesting sites to visit: Punta Cormorant (green beach with crystals of olivine mineral -good snorkeling site-), Post Office Barrel -18 th Century historical site- with swimming beach and also a lava cave, remains of a Norwegian canning factory (1926), also coralline sand beach and a black volcanic sand, another good site is Devil's Crown: an old eroded volcanic cone is a popular roosting site for seabirds such as boobies, pelicans, and frigates, excellent for diving & snorkel in and around the crater: many schools of bright tropical fishes, small coral formations, sea lions, rays, sea turtles, and sometimes sharks, also pelicans, herons, lava gulls nesting on the crater.
In addition this Island has also an interesting & colorful Human history of buccaneers, pirates, whalers, convicts, and colonists, it is thought that the Post Office barrel was established ca. 1790 by whalers to send letters to and from England.
This tradition has continued over the years, and even todayyou may drop off and pick up letters, without stamps, to be carried to far destinations,there's a long lava tube with cold water behind the beach andcan be explored with lamps.
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Punta Cormorant (Visitor site) offers two highly contrasting beaches. The first landing beach is of volcanic origin and is made ofolivine crystals, giving it a greenish tinge, and formed by the erosion of coralskeletons at the end of a short trail is a beach of extremely fine white sand: it is a nesting site for green sea turtles, between these two beaches is a salt lagoon frequented by flamingos, pintails, stilts, and other wading birds, alsocolonies of Red-billed tropicbirds nest in rocky crevices: An interesing island to explore!
Fauna & Flora:
Dark rumped petrels(specie in danger of extinction), Tropic birds, Pelicans , Lava Herons , lava gulls, Flamingos, another wading birds, endemic medium tree finch, sea turtles, sea lions, sharks, small coral reef, landscape & human history.
Vegetation:
In the highlands where there is more humidity, most of the plants are introduced like bear fruit, dense vegetation, most of it from the dry zone.
Area:
67 sq. miles
Max. Altitude:
2.099 feet.
Check the other islands...
>Santa Cruz
>San Cristobal
>Isabela
>Espanola (Hood)
>Floreana
>Santiago
>Bartolome
>Genovesa
>Fernandina: Punta espinoza
>South Plaza
>Santa Fe
>North Seymour
>Rabida
>Mosquera
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