Santa Cruz Island & the Islets of Guy Fawkes & Sombrero Chino
I may be biased because this is the island I call home – or maybe this is exactly why of all places on Earth I have chosen to live here – but I am of the humble opinion that Santa Cruz is one of the most beautiful and special places on Earth. It is the second largest island of the famous Galápagos Archipelago and is located at the very centre of the group, two factors that contribute towards making it one of the most biodiverse of the islands we visit on this expedition – so much so that it deserves a day and a half of our seven days of explorations!
Santa Cruz is tall enough to intercept the low cloud cover that hangs over the archipelago in the cold, dry season; as a result of which it displays many more than the two vegetation zones, arid and coastal, that are predominant in the rest of the islands. In fact the southern slopes of the old, extinct volcano that greet the moisture-laden clouds include a total of seven different vegetation zones – and while we were hiking through epiphyte-clad cloud forests on one day, the following day sees us walking through forests of graceful, silver, leafless Palo Santo trees and towering cactus giants! The northern slopes of the volcano that we explored this morning are a stark contrast to the southern side of Santa Cruz (home to several different vegetation zones and the island’s agricultural region), being located in the rain shadow of the tall island and receiving very little moisture as a consequence.
Whilst our adventures in the highlands of the island yesterday allowed us to see one of the healthiest populations of giant tortoises left in Galápagos as well as many species of humid zone finches such as the tree, woodpecker and vegetarian finches; our adventures in the arid northern part of the island, in turn, allowed us to discover the spectacular endemic land iguanas in their natural habitat – a wonderful animal that has been brought back from the brink of extinction through years of captive breeding and repatriation programs. Among the bird species we sighted were dry zone birds such as ground and cacti finches, Galápagos doves and mockingbirds, as well as lagoon and coastal birds such as flamingos, sandpipers and herons.
The rest of our unforgettable day was spent exploring the marine life and enjoying water activities off the coastlines of several tiny parasitic volcanic cones of the main volcanoes of Santa Cruz and Santiago Islands: we snorkelled along the steep, invertebrate-covered cliffs of the Guy Fawkes Islets and kayaked, snorkelled or just enjoyed a pretty little beach around the strangely-shaped islet of Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat – an unusual name given to the islet due to its funny shape).
I may be biased because this is the island I call home – or maybe this is exactly why of all places on Earth I have chosen to live here – but I am of the humble opinion that Santa Cruz is one of the most beautiful and special places on Earth. It is the second largest island of the famous Galápagos Archipelago and is located at the very centre of the group, two factors that contribute towards making it one of the most biodiverse of the islands we visit on this expedition – so much so that it deserves a day and a half of our seven days of explorations!
Santa Cruz is tall enough to intercept the low cloud cover that hangs over the archipelago in the cold, dry season; as a result of which it displays many more than the two vegetation zones, arid and coastal, that are predominant in the rest of the islands. In fact the southern slopes of the old, extinct volcano that greet the moisture-laden clouds include a total of seven different vegetation zones – and while we were hiking through epiphyte-clad cloud forests on one day, the following day sees us walking through forests of graceful, silver, leafless Palo Santo trees and towering cactus giants! The northern slopes of the volcano that we explored this morning are a stark contrast to the southern side of Santa Cruz (home to several different vegetation zones and the island’s agricultural region), being located in the rain shadow of the tall island and receiving very little moisture as a consequence.
Whilst our adventures in the highlands of the island yesterday allowed us to see one of the healthiest populations of giant tortoises left in Galápagos as well as many species of humid zone finches such as the tree, woodpecker and vegetarian finches; our adventures in the arid northern part of the island, in turn, allowed us to discover the spectacular endemic land iguanas in their natural habitat – a wonderful animal that has been brought back from the brink of extinction through years of captive breeding and repatriation programs. Among the bird species we sighted were dry zone birds such as ground and cacti finches, Galápagos doves and mockingbirds, as well as lagoon and coastal birds such as flamingos, sandpipers and herons.
The rest of our unforgettable day was spent exploring the marine life and enjoying water activities off the coastlines of several tiny parasitic volcanic cones of the main volcanoes of Santa Cruz and Santiago Islands: we snorkelled along the steep, invertebrate-covered cliffs of the Guy Fawkes Islets and kayaked, snorkelled or just enjoyed a pretty little beach around the strangely-shaped islet of Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat – an unusual name given to the islet due to its funny shape).
