Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island, also called Barrington Island after admiral Samuel Barrington, is a small island of which lies in the centre of the Galápagos archipelago, to the southeast of Santa Cruz Island. Geologically it is one of the oldest; volcanic rocks of about 4 million years old have been found. The vegetation of the island is characterized by brush, palo santo trees and stands of a large variety of the prickly pear cactus Opuntia echios.
Santa Fe is home to two endemic species and two endemic subspecies: the Barrington land iguana, the Barrington leaf-toed gecko, the Santa Fe marine iguana and the Santa Fe rice rat.
The visitor site is a wet landing located in Barrington Bay on the northeastern side of the island. Large numbers of sea lions are found on the beaches in the bay, occasionally hindering access to the two trails leading from the beach.
