Puerto Villamil is a small port village located on the southeastern edge of Isla Isabela in the Galapagos Islands. Of the 2,200 people who live on Isabela, the majority live in Puerto Villamil. The harbor is frequently full with sailboats, as Villamil is a popular stop for private yachts making their way to the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

as it is the westernmost town in the Galapagos Islands. Puerto Villamil was founded in 1897 by Antonio Gil Traditionally residents of Puerto Villamil have earned a living either through agriculture or fishing . Over the years the government has made policies to move the population away from fishing and into tourist-based activities. This move has been hotly debated, and has created political incidents including one in 2000 when a group of sea cucumber fishermen kidnapped baby

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

s in order to have the government extend their fishing limits. The modern church ''Iglesia Cristo Salvador'' in the middle of town is worth a visit because of its colourful wall paintings depicting various typical animals and landscapes of the island. The municipal market with a large relief on the wall showing birds of the island is close by. On the southwestern edge of town a

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of brid ...

was created by the park with assistance of US Aid. It leads through mangrove environments passing along saltwater lagoons filled with

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

black-winged stilt The black-winged stilt (''Himantopus himantopus'') is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family ( Recurvirostridae). The scientific name ''H. himantopus'' is sometimes applied to a single, almost cosmopolitan sp ...

s, Hudsonian whimbrels, Bahama pintails, and

common gallinule The common gallinule (''Gallinula galeata'') is a bird in the family Rallidae. It was split from the common moorhen by the American Ornithologists' Union in July 2011. It lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals, and other wetlands in t ...

s that come here to sweep the mud in search of brine shrimp. At the end of the walkway is the Tortoise Breeding Center (''Centro de Crianza de Tortugas Terrestres'') which was built in order to help preserve the many species of Isabela Tortoises. ''Poza de los Flamingos'' is a lake in the western part of the town where flamingos can be observed. To the southeast of town are a series of small islets including one known as Las Tintoreras where a colony of white tip sharks can often be seen resting in the lava channel. The ruins of a penal colony which was closed in 1959 can be visited in the west of the town. The prisoners were forced to build the El Muro de las Lágrimas, a wall with a height of up to 20 meters consisting of black lava stones which is well-preserved.Galo Martín Aparicio: ''Lo Esencial de Ecuador y las Islas Galápagos'', p. 207. Madrid 2018

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* * {{Authority control Populated places in Galápagos Province Port cities and towns in Ecuador Galápagos Islands