Most of the lowland areas in the Galapagos Islands, such as this site, are considered to be in the Arid Zone. These areas are frequently dominated by the taller species seen here: large cacti (the flat-padded prickly pear or Opuntia and the tall, thin candelabra or Jasminocereus and gray-barked palo santo trees, Bursera graveolens. For a location in the "Arid Zone," however, this site looks remarkably lush. This image was taken at the end of the rainy season during a year with a strong El Niño event, which made it much wetter than usual and the vegetation responded vigorously. Compare this panorama with the Mangrove and Scalesia forest panoramas from the same island.