SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND
This is the easternmost island in the Galapagos archipelago, and the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the capital of the Galapagos province. With a population of about 3,000, it is the second largest town to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz.
The island has an Ecuadorian Navy base and an airport, the latter now taking a considerable amount of traffic from mainland Ecuador. As a consequence, a number of tour boats are now based at the island.
Situated on the north eastern tip of the island there is a wet landing onto the beach. The trail is a steep climb up a cliff path and starts through a narrow ravine. A number of different birds can be seen here, in particular all three species of boobies, red-footed, blue-footed and masked. Frigatebirds are present, as are swallow-tailed gulls and storm petrels.
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This is the only large freshwater lake in the Galapagos. It is filled by rainwater and therefore it's depth varies with the seasons. It is thus at it's deepest in the rainy season - October to May, with the highest rainfall usually in April.
This site is reached by road and is about a half hour drive from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. The road goes through the small farming settlement of El Progreso. The lake itself is the caldera (collapsed cone) of an extinct volcano and is about 300 metres wide. The name El Junco is Spanish for sedge, which is present along the banks of the lake.
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Also reached from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Frigatebird Hill is within walking distance (1 km) of the town. Here one can see nesting colonies of both 'great' and 'magnificent' frigatebirds.
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While not on the island itself, Leon Dormido is a rock formation in the sea north west of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. This is a vertical rock formation formed from a tuff cone and about 500 feet high.
It is not possible to land here but a panga trip can be made between the two rocks which make up the formation. Blue footed boobies, masked boobies, frigatebirds and sea lions can be seen here.
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A small island, it's main claim to fame are the sea lions from which it takes it's name. Blue footed boobies also nest here.
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