Isla Santiago & Isla Santa CruzJun 5, 2009
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Locator Map
Our hike route
Old water tank and building from Salt Mine days
Our morning destination was Puerto Egas on Santiago Island (also called James & San Salvador). Port Egas has some of the structures remaining from a salt mining operation that continued into the 1960's. Unfortunately, Santaigo Island like all but two of the Galapagos Islands has no fresh water which makes living difficult for humans. We hiked about 2 kilometers passing through some of the dry interior of the island and then returning over the rough lava along the coast. We only encountered a couple of the Galapagos Fur Seals unique to this island but saw lots of birds and insects.
We had a swim/snorkel opportunity at the end of the hike. This was the best snorkel site we had during the trip. The water was clear and relatively calm with plentiful marine animals including a Green Sea Turtle that seemed to enjoy performing for the cameras.
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Santa Cruz's Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill)
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Cerro Dragon is named for the population of Land Iguanas found here. These iguanas were near extinction from feral dogs and other domestic animals competing for their food source, that were released by early settlers. A restoration program started by the National Park Service in 1975 has successfully reduced the non-native animals. Coupled with a "Breeding in Captivity" program a good population of the "Dragons" has returned to Dragon Hill. Our hike also took us through a "white forest" of Incense trees and Galapagos cotton plants.
Our afternoon included another beach/swim opportunity but the water had become rough. I attempted a short snorkel, but with only a couple of feet of visibility and the rough lava a couple of feet below the swells an early exit seemed prudent. Sharks were also often spotted here; another reason to not be in low visibility water.
