Bartolomé Island is one of the most-photographed destinations at the Galapagos Islands, especially because of its prominent and protruding Pinnacle Rock.
Pinnacle Rock is a volcanic cone that was created through the interaction of hot lava meeting cooler ocean water. When magma was released from an underwater volcano, it exploded to form a huge rock made up of many thin layers of basalt. For movie buffs, you can see the Pinnacle Rock in the 2003 blockbuster movie “Master and Commander.” During World War II, pilots from the United States Air Force stationed on Baltra even used it for target for practice.
Despite all its early history, Bartolomé still remains a small, volcanic island with little wildlife and vegetation. The true excitement comes from its stunning, panoramic views from atop the island. A steep wooden stairway provides a 30 to 40 minute climb from which you can take the perfect photo in every direction.
BARTOLOMÉ ISLAND HISTORY
Bartolomé Island was named after Admiral Sir Bartholomew James Sulivan, a friend of Charles Darwin who served as principal surveyor and second-lieutenant aboard the HMS Beagle on its second voyage, 1831 to 1836. He was a British naval officer and hydrographer, as well as a leading advocate of nautical surveying in relation to naval operations. It was because of Darwin that he took a strong interest in natural history, a fascination that stayed with him his entire life.
Sulivan had a distinguished naval career. Following the HMS Beagle voyage, he saw action in 1845 at the Siege of Montivideo when British and French forces collaborated to protect the city from the Argentine general Juan Manuel de Rosas. Between 1848 and 1851 he took a leave of absence to visit the Falkland Islands to conduct naval surveys of the islands, where he also collected fossils. His eldest son, James Young Falkland Sulivan, was the first British subject to be born there. In 1950, Sulivan also proposed mounting a fossil-hunting expedition off the coast of Patagonia. In 1870, he sent Darwin a prospectus for a natural history society he had help start in Bournemouth, England. He was knighted in 1869 and promoted to admiral in 1877.
