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South Plaza Island
The island south plaza was formed by lava up streaming from the bottom of the ocean. Despite its small size it is home to a large number of species and it is famous for its extraordinary flora. That is why this island is very popular with visitors.
| Land area: 0.2 sq km Highest peak: 24 m |
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The most characteristic plant is the ground cover sesuvium. During the rainy season its color is a green to yellowish tone, in the dry season (end of June till January) a bright red.
Then it contrasts very well with the yellow land iguana that lives there.
Also typical are the opuntia cactus forests that can be found on the whole island and which are the main nourishment of the iguanas.
The circular trail leads up to the 25-meter-high cliff. There you have a great view over the seabirds that are nesting there like pelicans, frigatebirds, red-billed tropicbirds, Audubon´s shearwaters, masked boobies as well as swallow-tailed gulls.
Very popular is also the sea lion colony on the coast. You can watch sea lions pups playing or the fighting of the bulls.
Swimming and snorkeling with them is possible too and out to the sea you might encounter a manta ray.
On the steep banks it is possible to see a great number of birds such as nesting Red-billed Tropicbirds and Swallow-tailed Gulls, but most of all, enjoying the beautiful view from atop the steep banks or strolling along the base of the cliff is an extremely pleasurable experience. Very attractive are the beautiful prickly pear cactus trees and of course the large colony of Galapagos Land Iguanas.
Depending on the season, the Sesuvium ground vegetation changes its color from intense green in the rainy season to orange and purple in the dry season.
San Cristóbal | Santa Cruz | Santa Fé | Santiago | (North) Seymour | South Plaza |
