7-Day Western Islands: Dragon Hill Land Iguanas

Most Galapagos itineraries begin here. Baltra's airport is the world's first fully ecological airport, run on solar and wind power and built largely from recycled materials, including old oil pipes repurposed into the terminal structure. Land iguanas, wiped out here by the 1950s and reintroduced through a decades-long breeding program, now number in the hundreds again, some right around the airport grounds. From the terminal, a short bus transfer brings you to the pier for the panga ride out to your ship.

Set on the grounds of the Galapagos National Park Service on Santa Cruz, this station was once home to Lonesome George, the last known tortoise of the Pinta subspecies. A series of interpretive buildings walks you through the conservation science underway across the islands, and the surrounding native vegetation is a good place to look for Darwin's finches going about their business.

A small tuff-cone islet just off Santa Cruz's northwestern shore, Eden Islet is explored by panga and snorkel only. The clear, shallow water is a strong bet for green sea turtles, rays, and reef sharks, especially near the mangrove fringe, and blue-footed boobies are often seen diving nearby. Marine iguanas in their reddish breeding colors line the black rock, and a small blowhole occasionally sends spray into the air when the swell is right.

Sierra Negra's caldera stretches 10 km north to south and 9 km east to west, one of the largest volcanic calderas on Earth. The more commonly walked route to Volcan Chico crosses relatively recent lava flows with sweeping views toward the volcanoes of Isabela and neighboring Fernandina; a longer trek reaches a system of active fumaroles known as the Sulfur Mine. This is a geology-and-scenery visit, and wildlife isn't the focus here.

At first glance Punta Moreno looks like little more than a lava flow at the base of Cerro Azul, but its black surface holds a series of lagoons with a surprising amount of life. Flamingos are a fairly good bet in the pools, and paint-billed crakes, white-cheeked pintails, and common gallinules turn up for those willing to watch the water closely.

Fernandina is the only major island in the archipelago with no introduced species, which makes Punta Espinosa one of the most pristine wildlife encounters anywhere in the Galapagos. A wet landing brings you onto black lava draped with the largest gathering of marine iguanas in the islands, alongside Galapagos penguins and flightless cormorants, both drawn here by the cold, nutrient-rich current. Around June, when marine iguana hatchlings emerge, keep an eye out for the Galapagos racer snake hunting along the nesting zone. Snorkeling here is a rare chance to watch marine iguanas feeding underwater, a behavior found almost nowhere else.

Puerto Egas stands out for its black volcanic sand and a shoreline where land and sea meet in close quarters. Galapagos hawks are often seen along the walk, and at the far end waits a colony of Galapagos fur seals tucked into shaded rock grottoes, one of the more reliable places in the islands to see this endangered species.

A relaxed, sandy stop on Santa Cruz's north shore. A lagoon just behind the beach occasionally draws flamingos and other shorebirds, and the beach itself is one of the archipelago's main sea turtle nesting grounds, most active between December and June. It's an easy visit, as much about the swim as the wildlife.