No sand beach on the eastern side, only rocks cliffs reaching up to 25m. The harbor is actually the sunken caldera of this extinct volcano and this can be appreciated here

The trail leads inward through a dry forest vegetation dominated by the Incense Tree or Palo Santo, which is used as a nesting area by frigates and red-footed boobies.

Lava cactus are called pioneer plants as they are the first ones to establish themselves in seemingly sterile environments.

Masked Booby mother feeding regurgitated food to its young. Although laying two eggs as a insurance policy against failed hatchings, only one chick will be raised eventually, even in years of plentiful food supply.

On the ground a large colony of masked boobies is encountered. The Nazca Booby as it is now officially classified, marks its nest by their own bird droppings called guano, the whitish spots observed in this photo.

The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of the three boobies species present in Galapagos and the only one which  nests in the trees and not on ground. The female only lays one egg and only in times of sufficient food supply.

Short-eared Owl with a killed petrel and Galapagos Dove, found often on the ground looking for food.

© all photos by the author

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