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Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island, also called Barrington Island, is a small island of 24 km² which lies in the centre of the Galapagos archipelago, to the south west of Santa Cruz Island. Geologically it is one of the oldest, since volcanic rocks of about 4 million years old have been found.
The vegetation of the island is characterized by the presence of a dense forest of the largest species of the giant Opuntia cactus.
| Land area: 24 sq km Highest peak: 259 m |
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The landing site is a bay on the northeast coast which is home to sea lions. Snorkeling is also possible and you might encounter the white-tipped reef shark and the spotted eagle ray. In the sandy cove nearby living sand dollars can be observed.
The island itself is quite dry and on account of this dominated by tall opuntia cacti, scalesia and palo santo trees. The Galápagos snake, mockingbirds and the Galápagos hawk occur here.
There is a choice of two trails: A short loop leads you to a forest of opuntia cactus which is the home to the Santa Fe land iguana (exists nowhere else on the islands). It varies from its fellows on the other islands by being bigger and having larger spines.
The opuntias grow especially tall when the vegetation is dense. Moreover the succulent pads serve as nourishment for the land iguana.
So by growing tall the cactus kills two birds with one stone: it protects itself and receives full sunlight. That is why some opuntias on Sante Fé are over 10m high.
The other trail (1,3 km) takes you through sea lion colonies up to a cliff from where you can observe various seabirds and Galápagos doves.
San Cristóbal | Santa Cruz | Santa Fé | Santiago | (North) Seymour | South Plaza |
