Go with the lava flow on Santiago Island

The solidifed lava flows you can see on Santiago are nothing short of spectacular; lying in long curls across the land they have variously been compared to telephone cables, cow pats and dreadlocks! It's an unearthly landscape and something that really stays with you.

Santiago is actually made up of two overlapping volcanoes and the oldest lava flows date to around 750,000 years ago. By contrast, some more recent lava flows are only around 100 years old! The whole island is a real natural lava laboratory and of real interest to geologists. You can walk over raw, uneroded black lava, covered with lava bubbles and the moulds of tree trunks embedded in it.

• Fur seals
• Penguins
• Dolphins
• Flamingos

The best place to see these lava flows is at the famous Sullivan Bay, where many cruises stop off to get a good look.

Sullivan Bay doesn't offer all that much in the way of wildlife, however, and for this you need to head around to the other side of Santiago, to Puerto Egas. Here, the lava flows are less recent and have had more chance to erode, so there is more plant life and correspondingly, more wildlife feeding off the plants and each other!

Puerto Egas is the best place to see land and marine iguanas, as well as the elusive fur seals. A coastal trail also offers the chance to see whales and dolphins in the surrounding crystal-clear waters. In terms of birdlife, Santiago is home to Galapagos Hawks, Galapagos penguins and a really huge variety of seabirds. Sadly, all this diversity is being severaly threatened by introduced species such as goats.

Check out our Galapagos Calendar to find out the optimal time for visiting all of the islands.

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