This island in the center of Galapagos is also one of the largest.

For centuries it has been visited by several entities like pirates, whalers, buccaneers, salt miners, scientists and others. The presence of fresh water and giant tortoises was the perfect excuse for many of them. In 1835 the most prominent naturalist the world has known, Mr. Charles Darwin, spent about nine days on the island collecting plants and animals. It’s true – Darwin slept here.

Early in the morning we land on Espumilla Beach for an excursion to get to know its fantastic scene, flora and fauna. In the water we see many sea turtles already mating. The beach has fresh turtle tracks because they nest here. Inland, the amazing Palo Santo forest houses some species of land birds like finches, warblers, mockingbirds, doves and Galapagos hawks.

Later in the morning some kayaking sessions take our guests along the very attractive coastline where many birds and animals can be seen while exercising. For others, the option of a Zodiac ride offers equal opportunity to enjoy the landscape and the fauna.

To conclude the morning the find ourselves jumping off the zodiacs to enjoy the richness of the Galapagos waters and the great diversity of life under it. There were thousands of fish of attractive coloration as well as sharks, rays, sea lions, and sea birds catching food.

After a deserved break from the morning activities, we are again ready to go out. This time we landed on a black sand beach for the visit of Puerto Egas. This is where people once came to exploit salt from a couple of mines in the area under the command of Mr. Egas, who later became the namesake. 

Walking along the shoreline, we were able to see massive concentrations of animals from different groups: marine iguanas basking in the sun, sea lions resting on the rocks or sand, birds flying around or catching fish or insects as prey. This is a great place for birding, as many migratory birds land at this site. Among them are whimbrels, sand pipers, turnstones, plovers and others. We just cannot believe our eyes – so many wonderful sightings.

To conclude this extraordinary day, we witnessed the most amazing sunset.