13 Pictures – Dragon Hill, Rabida and Santiago

Yep, more vacation shots.

We left Baltra and went to Dragon Hill, which is on Santa Cruz, then headed North East to Rabida, then made a quick stop at Santiago before spending a loooong night traveling around to the far side of Isabela. Here is some of what we saw.

1. Dragon Hill, so named for it’s resemblance to iguana. I don’t see it, but that’s what the guide said.

2.The tides in the Galapagos run around two feet. This is a tide pool area, low enough to get flooded regularly. Flamingos like to fish here, but since there are only a couple hundred flamingo in all the archipelago, It’s not surprising there weren’t any in this picture.

3. See that yellowish, blobby thing in the bottom right of the picture? That’s a land iguana. We saw three of them on this hike, all right in or very close to the path.

4. They make these kinds of burrows. The thing about them is the burrows tend to be too small for the iguana to be able to turn around in. When they want to get out, they have to go backwards.

5. Yeah, I know. Like you need to see it again. But I like this shot.

6. Rabida, known for it’s red soil/sand. Don’t see it yet? Keep scrolling.

7. First we took a dingy ride around the island and saw stuff like this. It’s nesting season for the pelicans, who favor Rabida. The sea lion is a different kind than the ones I showed you before. This one is known for having a thicker fur, and is called the fur sea lion. That’s a blue footed booby to the right of the pelican and a noddy to the left.

8. Sea lion tracks. Notice that the sea lion only bothered to come close to the water. He’s waiting for the tide to come in enough to carry him away. In the meanwhile he just kind of swatted at flies every so often. Here’s that red sand of Rabida.