The Galapagos Islands are not just about evolution, exotic animals and paradise-like beaches. It also has amazing and unexplainable natural formations. Let's take a look to the ones that, according to us, are the Galapagos’ most impressive natural rarities:
1. Las Grietas (The Cracks): It is a giant crack located in the Santa Cruz Island that forms two big walls up to 12m (39 ft) high. At the bottom, there is a long inlet of the sea with crystalline waters and a great diversity of tropical fish. It is a great place for diving or simply for swimming between these two giants walls.
2. The sleeping lion (Kicker Rock): located in front of the San Cristóbal Island, it is a dramatic formation of two rocks that rise up abruptly from the bottom of the sea, creating a little passage where small vessels can transit (photo). With 144m (472ft) high, these formations are a resting area for birds and sea lions. The formation got its name because, viewed from a certain angle, the rocks seem to form the silhouette of a sea lion lying down.
3. Darwin’s Arch: it is a natural stone arch that works as an entrance door to the Darwin Island. It is also considered by many professional scuba divers as the world's best place to dive.
4. The Pinnacle Rock: this is probably the tourists’ most photographed scene of the Galapagos Islands. It is a rocky formation located in the Bartolomé Island that looks like the tip off a big arrow coming out of the sea, pointing to the sky. There are many volcanic formations with these characteristics in the Galápagos, but none of them have taken such a peculiar shape.
5. The Love Tunnel: it is an 800m (2624ft) long tunnel in the island of Santa Cruz, formed by the underground passing of the lava that was expulsed by the volcanoes thousands of years ago. Its entrance has the singular shape of a heart, reason why it got its name.
The Galapagos have been well taken care of and preserved in a good state for visitors to see. Nowadays, you can still enjoy its natural wonders and feel the same excitement the islands’ first visitors once felt.
Photo: NOAA Photo Library
Photographer: Rosalind Cohen
No comments:
Post a Comment