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Galapagos Islands Photo Gallery - Day 6 Santiago Puerto Egas and Bartolome

In August 2007 we traveled to Quito, Ecuador, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, and the Galapagos Islands

Galapagos 6-1-01 Santiago Puerto Egas Sea Lion On Eden When I awoke at Puerto Egas on Santiago Island, a sea lion had decided our panga loading area was a good place to sleep.

Galapagos 6-1-01 Santiago Puerto Egas Sea Lion On Eden

Galapagos 6-1-02 Santiago Puerto Egas Sea Lion and Sugarloaf Volcano Santiago Island, officially called San Salvador and also called James, located in the west central part of the Galapagos, is the fourth largest island in the archipelago. A male sea lion patrols the beach at Puerto Egas against other males. Behind the black lava shoreline is Sugarloaf Volcano with a 395m summit.

Galapagos 6-1-02 Santiago Puerto Egas Sea Lion and Sugarloaf Volcano

Galapagos 6-1-03 Santiago Puerto Egas Beach and Shoreline Named after the owner of a salt mine, Puerto Egas on the west side of Santiago begins with a wet landing on a long flat, black lava shoreline where eroded shapes form lava pools, caves and inlets.

Galapagos 6-1-03 Santiago Puerto Egas Beach and Shoreline

Galapagos 6-1-04 Santiago Puerto Egas Wavey Shoreline Here is a close up the beautiful wavey eroded shapes of the rocks on the shoreline at Puerto Egas.

Galapagos 6-1-04 Santiago Puerto Egas Wavey Shoreline

Galapagos 6-1-05 Santiago Puerto Egas Galapagos Hawk We saw a Galapagos hawk just after landing at Puerto Egas. They frequent the area as there is a good population of iguanas along the beach. Besides iguanas these hawks feed on lava lizards and scavenge for whatever else they may find.

Galapagos 6-1-05 Santiago Puerto Egas Galapagos Hawk

Galapagos 6-1-06 Santiago Puerto Egas Galapagos Dove The endemic Galapagos dove is reddish brown with black and white markings, touches of incandescent green, red feet and a bright blue eye ring. Its bill is curved downward, larger and more curved than most other doves.

Galapagos 6-1-06 Santiago Puerto Egas Galapagos Dove

Galapagos 6-1-07 Santiago Puerto Egas Marine Iguana A marine iguana lazes around on Puerto Egas on Santiago Island, soaking up the sun to warm up after they cooled down at night, and before they would dive into the water to feed. A gland connected to the nostrils removes salt from the body, which is then expelled by

Galapagos 6-1-07 Santiago Puerto Egas Marine Iguana

Galapagos 6-1-08 Santiago Puerto Egas Shoreline We walked along the coast, with the green beautifully contrasted by the black rocks.

Galapagos 6-1-08 Santiago Puerto Egas Shoreline

Galapagos 6-1-09 Santiago Puerto Egas Sally Lightfoot Crab The Sally Lightfoot crabs are abundant on the lava rocks along the water's edge.

Galapagos 6-1-09 Santiago Puerto Egas Sally Lightfoot Crab

Galapagos 6-1-10 Santiago Puerto Egas American Oystercatcher I spotted an American oystercatcher with a long, heavy, blood-red bill piping along the shore.

Galapagos 6-1-10 Santiago Puerto Egas American Oystercatcher

Galapagos 6-1-11 Santiago Puerto Egas Lava Heron The lava heron, sometimes called Galapagos heron, is unique to the Galapagos. Its dark gray color blends with the color of lava as it stands motionless on the lava rockpools around the seashore remaining alert and waiting for prey.

Galapagos 6-1-11 Santiago Puerto Egas Lava Heron

Galapagos 6-1-12 Santiago Puerto Egas Yellow Warbler The yellow warbler is a colourful small bird not endemic to the Galapagos.

Galapagos 6-1-12 Santiago Puerto Egas Yellow Warbler

Galapagos 6-1-13 Santiago Puerto Egas Collapsed Lava Tube The collapsed lava tubes open to the sea and with clear water and natural arches are the best place to see the Galapagos fur seals, which rest here under the shady overhangs, or loll about in the turquoise pools.

Galapagos 6-1-13 Santiago Puerto Egas Collapsed Lava Tube

Galapagos 6-1-14 Santiago Puerto Egas Green Sea Turtle In A Collapsed Lava Tube We saw a green sea turtle in one of the collapsed lava tubes. Adults grow to 1m in length with a body weight of up to 180kg. These cousins to the tortoise mate in the waters near the Galapagos.

Galapagos 6-1-14 Santiago Puerto Egas Green Sea Turtle In A Collapsed Lava Tube

Galapagos 6-1-15 Santiago Puerto Egas Galapagos Fur Seal The Galapagos fur seal is the smallest of the fur seals found in the Southern Hemisphere. During the day they hide from the hot equatorial sun in shelves or caves of the rocky lava cliffs. At night they feed on squid and fish avoiding the sharks, which are their natural predator.

Galapagos 6-1-15 Santiago Puerto Egas Galapagos Fur Seal

Galapagos 6-1-16 Santiago Puerto Egas Yellow-crowned Night Heron A yellow-crowned night heron stands near one of the collapsed lava tubes looking for fish.

Galapagos 6-1-16 Santiago Puerto Egas Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Galapagos 6-1-17 Santiago Puerto Egas Mockingbird Mockingbirds are quite unafraid of people and very curious and will even land on a visitor's head or water bottle, always looking for food or drink. Here is a mockingbird perched on a tree at Puerto Egas.

Galapagos 6-1-17 Santiago Puerto Egas Mockingbird

Galapagos 6-1-18 Cousins Rock Back at the beach, we boarded the pangas and headed back to the Eden for lunch. As we sailed towards Bartolome, we passed Cousin's Rock, a well known dive site situated off the east coast of Santiago.

Galapagos 6-1-18 Cousins Rock

Galapagos 6-1-19 Male Magnificent Frigatebird Flies Over The Eden Birds flew alongside and over the Eden, often landing on the top. Here is a male magnificent frigatebird.

Galapagos 6-1-19 Male Magnificent Frigatebird Flies Over The Eden

Galapagos 6-2-01 Bartolome Long View Bartolome, located just a few hundred metres off the east coast of Santiago, is the most visited and most photographed island in the Galapagos, with the best known feature being the tuff cone known as Pinnacle Rock. Sullivan Bay on Santiago Islands lies across from Bartolome to the right in the photo.

Galapagos 6-2-01 Bartolome Long View

Galapagos 6-2-02 Bartolome Pinnacle Rock The large black partially eroded lava formation of Pinnacle Rock was created when magma expelled from the volcano reached the sea. When the seawaters cooled the hot lava it caused an explosion. The exploded particles eventually fasten together forming a rock composed of thin layers.

Galapagos 6-2-02 Bartolome Pinnacle Rock

Galapagos 6-2-03 Bartolome Pelican Brown pelicans are found throughout the Galapagos Islands, skimming over the water, plunge-diving, and resting in mangrove trees. This brown pelican was floating next to the Eden.

Galapagos 6-2-03 Bartolome Pelican

Galapagos 6-2-04 Bartolome Galapagos Penguin As we took the panga to the beach on Bartolome, we spotted a Galapagos Penguin sitting on the rocks. Later, the people who snorkeled near Pinnacle Rock spotted another three penguins. The small 30cm high Galapagos Penguins are unable to fly, but they use their wings and feet to swim speedily underwater, where they catch fish to eat. The cold Humboldt Current, sweeping up from the Antarctic, makes the Galapagos Islands habitable for the Galapagos penguin species. No other species of penguin can survive so close to the Equator.

Galapagos 6-2-04 Bartolome Galapagos Penguin

Galapagos 6-2-05 Bartolome Northern Beach and Spatter Cone Lying beside the Pinnacle Rock are twin half moon shaped beaches. The northern beach is a popular snorkeling site where visitors have the opportunity to swim with fish, sea lions and Galapagos Penguins. Behind is the spatter cone that we will climb later.

Galapagos 6-2-05 Bartolome Northern Beach and Spatter Cone

Galapagos 6-2-06 Bartolome Sand Dunes Between Beaches Bartolome is really two barren volcanic cinder cones connected by a green isthmus bordered by golden sand beaches. From the northern beach we walked along a 100m trail across the narrowest part of Bartolome, over a sand dune, to another sandy beach.

Galapagos 6-2-06 Bartolome Sand Dunes Between Beaches

Galapagos 6-2-07 Bartolome South Beach Johnny asked us to walk into the water on the southern beach on Bartolome and hold hands to spot eagle rays.

Galapagos 6-2-07 Bartolome South Beach

Galapagos 6-2-08 Bartolome North Beach and Pinnacle Rock We walked back to the northern beach of Bartolome, where some people swam, others snorkeled, and some just enjoyed to beautiful weather and views.

Galapagos 6-2-08 Bartolome North Beach and Pinnacle Rock

Galapagos 6-2-09 Bartolome Peter Ryan Snorkeling Peter Ryan picked up snorkeling for the first time in the Galapagos Islands. He took to it like a, a blue-footed booby, really enjoying himself.

Galapagos 6-2-09 Bartolome Peter Ryan Snorkeling

Galapagos 6-2-10 Bartolome Sea Lion and Boats I walked to the far end of the beach where a sea lion was basking in the shade of Pinnacle Rock, with the boats bobbing in the water nearby.

Galapagos 6-2-10 Bartolome Sea Lion and Boats

Galapagos 6-2-11 Bartolome American Oystercatcher I walked to the far end of the beach where I spotted an American oystercatcher with their long, heavy, blood-red bill piping long the shore.

Galapagos 6-2-11 Bartolome American Oystercatcher

Galapagos 6-2-12 Bartolome Spatter Cone After an afternoon snack on the Eden, we boarded the pangas in the late afternoon to climb the spatter cone on Bartolome.

Galapagos 6-2-12 Bartolome Spatter Cone

Galapagos 6-2-13 Bartolome Dry Landing To Climb Spatter Cone We had a dry landing on Bartolome before starting the climb to the top of the spatter cone on wooden boardwalks and steps.

Galapagos 6-2-13 Bartolome Dry Landing To Climb Spatter Cone

Galapagos 6-2-14 Bartolome Spatter Cone and Tiquilia The side of the cinder cone was dotted with grey Tiquilia, a shrubby plant that grows in extremely dry areas, and are vital in binding the ash that fans down from the hill.

Galapagos 6-2-14 Bartolome Spatter Cone and Tiquilia

Galapagos 6-2-15 Bartolome Spatter Cone Lava Cactus As we hiked towards the top of the spatter cone, we passed lava cactus, found only in Galapagos. Growing in lava fields, small lava cactus grow in clumps measuring up to 60cm in height. The youngest growth is the yellow areas of the cactus, the yellow caused by a reflection of the sun hitting the plant. The spines on the lava cactus collect moisture when there is drizzle and fog.

Galapagos 6-2-15 Bartolome Spatter Cone Lava Cactus

Galapagos 6-2-16 Bartolome Climbing The Stairs Of The Spatter Cone From the landing, the walk takes approximately 40 minutes to the top of the 114m spatter cone on Bartolome.

Galapagos 6-2-16 Bartolome Climbing The Stairs Of The Spatter Cone

Galapagos 6-2-17 Bartolome We Made It To The Top Of The Spatter Cone Phew. We made it. We’re at the top of the Bartolome spatter cone.

Galapagos 6-2-17 Bartolome We Made It To The Top Of The Spatter Cone

Galapagos 6-2-18 Bartolome Spatter Cone View To Other Spatter Cones and Coast From the top of the spatter cone on Bartolome, we had a sunset view of other spatter cones, with Santiago Island jutting out in the middle and the Bainbridge Rocks beyond.

Galapagos 6-2-18 Bartolome Spatter Cone View To Other Spatter Cones and Coast

Galapagos 6-2-19 Bartolome Pinnacle Rock From The Top Of The Spatter Cone The panoramic view from the summit of Bartolome is probably the most photographed landscape in the islands. You can see the twin bays, the Pinnacle Rock, the moonlike landscape and a view of Santiago Island close by and its famous Sullivan bay.

Galapagos 6-2-19 Bartolome Pinnacle Rock From The Top Of The Spatter Cone

Galapagos 6-2-20 Bartolome Charlotte Ryan, Peter Ryan, Jerome Ryan And Our Team From The Top Of The Spatter Cone Charlotte Ryan, Peter Ryan, Jerome Ryan and the rest of our team pose at the summit of Bartolome in the Galapagos Islands at sunset. Our Naturalist Guide, Johnny Romero, is also in the picture – well, at least his shadow is.

Galapagos 6-2-20 Bartolome Charlotte Ryan, Peter Ryan, Jerome Ryan And Our Team From The Top Of The Spatter Cone


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