The Western Islands of the Galapagos
Santiago
Santiago has a couple of names. It's called James and it's also called San Salvador. The central volcano of Santiago has erupted many times over the past one hundred years. There is dense vegetation of Santiago, and, sadly, lots of introduced species. These include rats, goats, pigs, and donkeys. They were all brought here by pirates a few hundred years ago. There are several sites on Santiago designated as tourist spots. Visitors can go to Puerto Egas (aka James Bay), Espumilla Beach, Buccaneer's Cove, and Sullivan Bay.
James Bay has a black sand beach and was once home to a small population of humans. Salt has been mined here, out of the cliffs, and you can see some buildings that used to be in use, up on the small cliffs. Goats destroyed the area around where the humans used to live. The only vegetation still left is one that is poisonous to the goats. It's called Castela galapageia. Its the red fruit that's poisonous to the goats. If you climb up the cliffs around James Bay, you'll find a magnificent view of the craters of the island and of the bay itself. You can also take a short walk or hike to the grottos, which are caves where sea lion come to play.
Feral pigs have long been a bad problem on Santiago. Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station have joined forces to initiate an eradication program. They are sponsored by Lindblad Expeditions. Thanks to these efforts, the feral pigs are now almost toally gone from Santiago.
Playa Espumilla is a stunning beach with golden sand at Espumilla on Santiago. There are lagoons, flamingos, turtle nests, sand dunes, and everything to make Espumilla Beach the perfect retreat for a day in the Galapagos Islands.
Sullivan Bay has an impressive lava field with fascinating and beautiful formations of hardened lava. There's a loop trail that's marked for your convenience, which you can walk in just over an hour.
Sombrero Chino
Sombrero Chino is very close to the southern tip of Santiago, with a wonderful blue lagoon separating the two islands in the western chain of the Galapagos. There is a trail here, too, although not so long. It runs from the sandy beach to the other side of the island. You can see sea lions near the beach, as well as penguins hanging out. If you take the trail, it will lead you to a place where marine iguanas lounge around in the tidal pools. Sombrero Chino means 'Chinese Hat', and it makes a great day trip for snorkeling or diving if you go to the lagoon.
Bartolome
If you like trails, Bartolome has an excellent trail up to the top of its main volcano, complete with wooden stairway. There are quite a few visitors to Bartolome each day, so Galapagos National Park works hard to maintain the trail, to curb erosion caused by footsteps on sloping pathways to the summit. Unfortunately, American pilots used to bomb this island during World War II.
On the north side of the island, you can swim at a cove under Pinnacle Rock, where you might see some Galapagos penguins playing in the water. There's a sheltered cove behind Pinnacle Rock where schools of fish love to congregate. Don't swim on the south beach, however. THere are just so many stingrays and sharks it's not wise.
Isabela
Isabela is the largest island of the Galapagos Islands. By far. Land surface area is just over 1770 square miles, which, if you total all surface area in the Galapagos Islands, accounts for about half. There are six main volcanos which make up the island. An interesting bit of trivia: the equator passes through Isabela, at the point between tow of the volcanoes, Wolf and Ecuador. There are volcanic eruptions on the island of Isabela still.
Fernandina
If you olike volcanos, Fernandina might be a good island for you to visit. The volcano here is one of the most active volcanos in the world. There was once a lake in the crater of the main volcano, but that was filled with lava in the 1950s. Sometimes this volcano erupts for weeks at a time, with lava flowing into the ocean, enlarging the island bit by bit. The Pepinos Affair is centered around the sea urchin industry around Fernandina.
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