Safari to Isla Pinzon

uniquely home rare Duncan tortoises

This small cone-shaped island lies just 10 km west of the central Isla Santa Cruz and has a largely rocky foreshore, with a central hill rising to 458m (1503’).

Area : 18 sq km / 7 sq mi
Location : 40 km west of Seymour Airport

Most excitingly the island is the only home of the giant Galapagos tortoise subspecies Chelonoidis duncanensis, which is of the saddleback variety (with the front of its shell raised to allow browsing).

Unfortunately landings are not presently permitted, the island is closed.

The island was named after the Pinzón brothers, captains of the Pinta and Niña caravels (two of the ships under the command of Christopher Columbus when he first visited the Americas, even though he never visited Galapagos). It was previously known as Duncan Island, after the 1st Viscount Adam Duncan of England.

Due to the lack of protected anchorages, the island is rarely used as an overnight location, but is instead visited for just a few hours by live-aboard boats, supplemented by day-tripper boats out of Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz.

Landing site 1 : Pinzón
Status : closed
Activities : hiking
Highlights : Duncan giant tortoises

There is a landing location on the eastern shoreline, where there is a small offshore island, a shallow lagoon and a trail leading around 4 km (2.5 miles) across low shrubland and up to the central area.

Surprisingly Isla Pinzón is not home to either of the two main Galapagos tree species and only the scalesia daisy trees can be found.

During the 1960s it was discovered the tortoise population on the island comprised only 100–200 animals, all of which were very old adults. It was reckoned that no young tortoises had survived into adulthood for perhaps more than 70 years, due to the presence of invasive rats (inadvertently introduced by sailors and pirates during the 1700s).

Conservationists therefore started to remove the eggs to the safe haven of the Charles Darwin Research Station on Isla Santa Cruz, where hatchlings were raised.

In 2012 the park authorities eradicated the rats and in 2014 it was reported that the first young Duncan tortoises for many decades had been raised on the island, with an average of 4.6 hatchlings per clutch. A further 118 hatchlings were also reintroduced from the captive breeding program.

The island is also home to Galapagos sea lions, which can sometimes be encountered at close quarters on the landing beach.

If you specifically want to include Isla Pinzón in your trip, then do let us know and we will investigate whether or not it might be possible.