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Galapagos Islands information
Rabida Island
 Rabida
(Jervis) has a distinctive look, with its reddish beach, cliffs, and steep
slopes of volcanic cinders. A noisy colony of sea lions lives on the beach,
and a short trail inland is a good place to observe land birds such as
finches, doves,
yellow warblers, and mockingbirds.
Hidden behind a narrow strip of green salt bush is a
briny lagoon where flamingos may be found, sometimes even nesting.
Snorkeling along the rocks at the east end of the beach may reveal many
of the reef fish common to these waters, and the ever-present sea lions.
Tower Island
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 Tower
(Genovesa) is a low volcano barely breaking the surface of the ocean. Ships
sail directly into its large breached caldera to anchor at the foot of the
steep crater walls. It attracts vast numbers of pelagic
seabirds who
come here to nest. Great frigate birds,
red-footed boobies,
swallow-tailed gulls and storm petrels all breed here by the thousands.
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A
trail leads from a coral beach past tidal lagoons where where lava gulls and
yellow crowned night herins are seen, then along the low shrubs populated by
frigates and
boobies, and
eventually to a cliff edge where seabirds soar. A second trail leads to an open area for
masked boobies, more
frigates, and red-footed boobies. At the end of the trail thousands of band-rumped
storm petrels flutter at the cliff's edge, where they nest in crevices.
Short-eared owls can sometimes be seen here, hunting the storm petrels
during daylight hours.
Marchena Island
 Marchena,
or Bindloe is a large shield volcano. Marchena, too, has lavas like Genovesa
similar to those of mid-ocean ridge basalts. It's an interesting geological
formation. Marchena has had a lot of volcanic activity, though there is only one
known eruption which occurred in 1992. Marchena has a caldera, like many
islands. Marchena's caldera, however, has been almost completely filled with
young lavas, some of which has spilled over and down the sides. The oldest lavas
are 500,000 years old. Marchena is rather desolate and has no fresh water and
hence has never been settled, and its flora and fauna have not been disturbed by
feral animals or introduced plants. Except for diving in the waters around it,
it is off-limits to tourists and is therefore seldom visited. Tortoises have
apparently never inhabited Marchena.
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