Long before it became eco-tourist heaven, the Galapagos was an outpost for pirates who would plunder the Spanish galleons travelling back and forth from South America to Spain. The islands were the perfect strategic base for “re-appropriating” gold and silver from the Spanish ships – far enough from the South American mainland to make an easy escape, yet close enough to raid the coastal cities when business was slow on the high seas.
Travellers today enjoy the same strategic convenience, except cameras have replaced cutlasses and the real booty is not gold or silver, but the abundance of incredible wildlife experiences which the Galapagos offers.
Formed by a series of volcanic eruptions between three and five million years ago, the Galapagos is located approximately 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador. The archipelago is comprised of a string of 19 islands that were made famous by Charles Darwin after his voyage there on the HMS Beagle in 1835 that laid the foundation for Darwin’s theory of evolution. Since then, the Galapagos has been a living laboratory for biologists the world over. The key to its unique biodiversity lies in its location.
Straddling the equator, the islands soak up sunshine for much for the year while cool currents wash the surrounding ocean. This unusual combination has given rise to both stunning tropical and temperate environments, which have bred a mix of species found nowhere else on earth. It’s estimated that 80% of land birds found here are endemic, along with 97% of the land mammals and. Even 30% of the plants are found nowhere else on earth.
In 1959 Ecuador officially recognised the islands’ ecological importance and declared the Galapagos a national park. The islands would later become Unesco’s first World Heritage site in 1978, and for good reason.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit each year to experience Darwin’s “living lab”, doing walking tours with naturalists. And there are few places on earth where you can get more up close and personal with wildlife. The area has one of the world’s highest concentrations of sharks, including hammerheads and whale sharks, and some of the best diving on the planet.
Whether you’re submerging yourself in incredible dive sites, exploring the diverse terrain or marvelling at the Galapagos’ exotic wildlife, you won’t need someone like Darwin to tell you that this is treasure worth far more than gold.
Active Travellers; Eco Travellers; Nature Lovers; Cruising
