Santiago Island
Santiago is one of the largest islands of the Galápagos Archipelago; its surface area is 226 square miles. In the highlands of the island one can see there are large areas covered with luxurious green vegetation. This environment provides enough food for the giant tortoises that live there. The lowlands are drier, with the typical vegetation of arid zones. Most of the wildlife is concentrated along the shoreline.
This afternoon we had a wonderful walk along the west shore line of Santiago, at a visitor’s site called Puerto Egas. This area is very attractive not only because of the marvelous combination of volcanic black lava flows merged with tuff formations, but also because of the incredible abundance of wildlife. Galápagos sea lions, Galápagos fur seals, marine iguanas, Darwin finches, Galápagos mockingbirds and also some migratory birds can all be seen here. But among all these interesting species, our guests’ favorite animals are most often the charming sea lions. We observed many of them resting placidly on the beach at the landing site and then again all along the trail. The exquisite combination of breathtaking volcanic landscapes and unique and approachable wildlife made our afternoon a memorable one.
Santiago is one of the largest islands of the Galápagos Archipelago; its surface area is 226 square miles. In the highlands of the island one can see there are large areas covered with luxurious green vegetation. This environment provides enough food for the giant tortoises that live there. The lowlands are drier, with the typical vegetation of arid zones. Most of the wildlife is concentrated along the shoreline.
This afternoon we had a wonderful walk along the west shore line of Santiago, at a visitor’s site called Puerto Egas. This area is very attractive not only because of the marvelous combination of volcanic black lava flows merged with tuff formations, but also because of the incredible abundance of wildlife. Galápagos sea lions, Galápagos fur seals, marine iguanas, Darwin finches, Galápagos mockingbirds and also some migratory birds can all be seen here. But among all these interesting species, our guests’ favorite animals are most often the charming sea lions. We observed many of them resting placidly on the beach at the landing site and then again all along the trail. The exquisite combination of breathtaking volcanic landscapes and unique and approachable wildlife made our afternoon a memorable one.
