Galapagos Things to Do – “Top 10″

Not easy coming up with a “top 10″ things to do list for the Galapagos Islands. There is so much to do and so many amazing sights and sounds.  Anyway, here they are.  To learn more about Galapagos please check out our site.

1. Take a panga tour around Pinnacle Rock, one of the most photographed sites in the Galapagos. Here you will get a close-up view of marine birds, including  the small colony of Galapagos Penguins nesting on the lava ledges (Bartholomew Island).
2. Tour the Summit Trail through deep volcanic sand and then ascend the hundreds of wooden stairs to experience the spectacular panoramic views of  Pinnacle Rock and surrounding Galapgos Islands (Bartholomew Island).
3. See the Waved Albatross who almost take over the one of the Galapagos Islands with their numbers. Steep cliffs provide the perfect runway for take off to ocean feeding grounds off Ecuador and Peru. It will be months or even years before the albatross touches down on land again (Espanola).
4. Hike along the trail past the blue-footed booby nests and climb the rocky plateau to the blowhole. A natural fissure formed in the lava bedrock, this spectacular sight is accompanied by a loud booming sound as trapped surf is ejected upwards almost 25 meters in a huge volume of water (Espanola).
5. Swim with the Galapagos Penguins, the second smallest penguin in the world and the only penguin living in equatorial (warm) waters. See them nesting in the rocky areas (Fernandina Island).
6. Hike through the mangrove on Land’s End Trail along the black sand beach, watching for iguana nests with eggs tucked into the gravel trail.  Land iguanas’ favourite nesting site on the volcano’s rim is often destroyed by eruptions (Fernandina Island).
7. Try and find the wandering lake which appears and disappears, depending on the volcanic activity.  During an eruption in 1968, a sizeable volcanic lake lying at the southeast end of the caldera floor relocated in its entirety to the northwest end (Fernandina Island).
8. Snorkel in the crater at Devil’s Crown with marine life such as coral, pencil sea urchin, wrasses, angelfish, amberjacks, and many other fascinating sea creatures (Floreana).
9. “Mail” a postcard at Post Office Bay, the location of the original wooden barrel placed by the crew of a whaling ship in the 18th century.  The barrel has long since been replaced but the tradition continues with tourists leaving postcards and others taking some back to send when they return home (Floreana).
10. Visit the most popular Galapagos resident “Lonesome George” the tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service. These organizations jointly run the tortoise breeding centre here, hatching and raising tortoises to eventually reintroduce them into their natural habitat throughout the archipelago (Santa Cruz Island).