Pinzon: Named after the Pinzon brothers, captains of the Pinta and Niña Caravels.Has an area of 18 km² and a maximum altitude of 458 meters. Sea lions, sparrow hawks, giant turtles, marine iguanas and dolphins can be seen here. It is a cliff bound island, which makes landing difficult, and permit is required to visit it. |
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Pinta (Abingdon): It got its name from one of the caravels of Columbus. Has an area of 60 km² and a maximum altitude of 777 meters. Swallow-tailed gulls, marine iguanas, sparrow hawks, fur seals can be seen here. The Pinta Island is home of Lonesome George. There are landing sites, but the island has no visitor sites and researched require a permit to visit.
Mosquera: Mosquera is a tiny islet located between Baltra and N. Seymour Islands. It is basically a long, narrow beach with a large population of sea lions.
Due to its proximity to the Baltra Airport, Mosquera is a favored Visitor Site for many of the yachts on the first or last day of the tour. Needless to say, this is a wet landing site; swimming and snorkeling are part of the activities.You will note that Mosquera is flat, seemingly not related to the other volcanically-formed islands.
Actually, as with several of the islands in the Galapagos, this area has been geologically uplifted. An uplift is a land mass formed by lava flowing through a subsurface geological fissure, gradually lifting the mass through and above the ocean surface. In the Galapagos, the uplifted islands have been over a million years in the making; marine fossils are still evident in many of these locations. |
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