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FAR FLUNG TRAVEL
STORY
Santa Cruz Island
About 12,000 people live on Santa Cruz, the most populated island
in the chain. The entire island is a dormant volcano, but it last blew its top
about 1.5 million years ago. Fortunately in the mountains at 2,800 feet,
the only inhabitants were of the prehistoric variety.
I was so close to these giants I could hear them breathe their low
guttural inhale and exhale high in the misty mountains on Santa Cruz
Island. A dewy canopy of fog draped the higher elevations home of the
giant Galápagos tortoise, and at 500 pounds and four feet long, it’s the
biggest species of tortoise in the modern world. The Galápagos tortoise is
also one of the oldest living tortoise species on the planet with several of
these shelled behemoths surviving for 150 years!
I saw only one other creature in the overcast mountains that was
in stark contrast to the slow moving tortoises. The vibrant Vermillion
Flycatcher left its perch only for filling its beak with insects. To
lure in a female, the male will find the most attractive insect to
entice her.
Española Island
Dropped off by skiff on dreamy Española Island, its
golden sands were littered with lazy Galápagos sea lions,
piles of marine iguanas, scampering lava lizards and raucous
mockingbirds chattering in the nearby thickets. Española Island
is the oldest island at around 3.5 million years, and the most
southerly isle in the chain.
It is home to two of the most comical birds on the planet, the Blue-
footed Boobie and the Waved Albatross. In fact, almost the entire world
population of Waved Albatross breeds on this idyllic island.
With nearly an eight-foot wingspan, these pelagic birds can fly for
hours without stalling, and most of this is done by soaring, an incredible
site over Esapañola Island. Their blue-footed counterparts are one of the
most popular birds in the Galápagos, and it’s clear the male’s breeding
dance to entice females is equally entertaining for visitors, too.
Isabela Island
The largest island in the Galápagos chain is also the youngest at
approximately 1 million years old. The island was created by the merger
of six shield volcanoes – Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra
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