Safari to Isla Baltra
Isla Baltra
is home to the main airport
in the Galapagos
a good population of land iguanas
The small Isla Baltra lies immediately north of the central Isla Santa Cruz, the two being separated by the 500m (1500’) Itabaca Channel.
Area : 24 sq km / 9 sq mi
Location : home to the main hub of Seymour Airport
Activities : transit only
Highlights : land iguanas
The origin of the name Isla Baltra is unknown. It was previously known as South Seymour Island.
The island is low-lying, having been created by the geological uplift of submarine lava fields. It’s a relatively arid and unattractive place, whose vegetation consists of salt bushes, prickly pear cactus plants and palo santo trees.
The island is home to Seymour Airport (GPS) the main hub for the archipelago (there is also a secondary airport on Isla de San Cristóbal). This is the only place where private planes can land at night.
Isla Baltra is only really a place through which to transit. All arriving visitors are immediately transported by bus to one of two docks. The first is located in a small bay to the north, where the live-aboard boats are docked. The second is the ferry port in the south, which connects Baltra to Santa Cruz.
During the Second World War, the airport here was massively expanded by the US Air Force and used as a base from which to patrol the Pacific and protect the Panama Canal from enemy submarines.
During this period the island’s population of land iguanas was completely exterminated, but fortunately a few had previously been moved to Isla Seymour Norte, where they thrived. During the 1990s a population of iguanas was reintroduced back to Isla Baltra, where they are now reasonably common.
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Isla Baltra is accessed by means of a large plane flight from either Quito or Guayaquil in mainland Ecuador to Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located on the island.
From the airport you can either drive north a short distance to pick up your live-aboard boat, or south to cross the channel to access the lodges of Isla Santa Cruz.
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