Outstanding Characteristics:
The Paradise of birds! one observes very close red footed boobies, short eared owls, masked boobies, frigate birds and swallow-tailed gulls nesting, red-billed tropic birds nesting on the cliffs, lava gulls, night herons, lava herons, the smallest marine iguanas on Galapagos, sea lions. Snorkeling is easy to observe hammerhead sharks, rays, golden rays, big school of fishes, sea cucumbers.
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DARWIN BAY
Disembarking: Wet landing
Dressing: Casual and comfortable garments, hiking shoes.
Type of terrain : An sandy beach with small pieces of coral and volcanic rocks, later on a pahoahoe lava field
Degree of difficulty: Middle
Duration: Hiking: 1. 30 - 1 Km.
What to bring: Camera, a wide brimmed hat, sunglasses, binoculars, sunscreen, repellent, walking shoes.
Recommendations: Dont forget your snorkeling gear.
Highlights:
We explore today a beach inside the caldera of an extinct, partially-eroded volcano, it's a beautiful coralline beach, with swallow-tail and lava gulls, a favorite place amongst birders because their colonies of nesting Great frigate birds and Red footed boobies, very impressive is the large number of male Great Frigates displaying (March to June.) their courtship display inflating their gular sacks with air pumped in from their lungs, while the females are passing overhead,A good place for swim and snorkeling with sea lions, sea turtles, sea cucumbers, rays, stingrays, if we are lucky with friendly hammerhead sharks, colored fishes and few marine Iguanas regulating their temperatures under the sun on the lava rocks near the beach.
Prince Philip's Steps or El Barranco
Easy 2- 3 hours hiking, this is another paradise of birds, the main attraction is to observe the short eared owl preying on the small petrels (2-3 hours easy hiking), masked & red footed boobies and the amazing white-red footed booby or Morpho Blanco variety.
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Vegetation:
Holy stick tree (Palo Santo) small in size and abundant. Typical plants of the Arid Zone like Salt Bushes.
Area:
5.4 sq. miles
Max. Altitude:
249 feet.
You can visit this island just with a regular 5 or 8 days cruise Tour from Santa Cruz or San Cristobal
Is also a low volcano barely breaking the surface of the ocean. Ships sail directly into its large breached caldera to anchor at the foot of the steep crater walls. It attracts vast numbers of pelagic seabirds who come here to nest. Great frigate birds, red-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and storm petrels all breed here by the thousands. A trail leads from a coral beach past tidal lagoons where lava gulls and yellow-crowned night herons are seen, then along the low shrubs populated by frigates and boobies, and eventually to a cliff edge where seabirds soar. A second trail leads to an open area for masked boobies, more frigates, and red-foots. At the end of the trail thousands of band-rumped storm petrels flutter at the cliffs edge, where they nest in crevices. Short-eared owls can sometimes be seen here, hunting the storm petrels during daylight hours.
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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