The famous Galapagos Islands are considered to be the last hidden paradise on Earth. The archipelago’s fantastic animal world with a high degree of endemism allows visitors to see fauna with behavior different from that on other parts of the planet. These animals do not fear the people visiting the islands. On the contrary, they are curious and are the ones who, in spite of the fact that they are wild animals, get close to visitors, offering them excellent opportunities to take photographs and study the animals.
All who visit this volcanic archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean consider it to be one of the most fascinating places on Earth. It’s a place where you will feel like you are traveling back in time to when our planet came into being. In Galapagos, you will be able to see active volcanoes, craters, and lava fields that look like landscapes from the moon and you will learn about the wonders of nature in their transformation processes.
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| Santa Cruz Island of the Galapagos |
The archipelago is located in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1,000 kilometers off the northwestern coast of South America. The equator runs through the islands, which belong to Ecuador. The archipelago is made up of thirteen main islands, which surpass 5 square km in land area, six smaller islands of around 1.5 sq km, and more than 40 islets. The biggest island is Isabela with a surface of 4,710 square km. The entire surface area of the archipelago is 7,882 square km.
The two youngest islands – Fernandina and Isabela – formed around 700,000 years ago and have the most active volcanoes. The oldest island is Española, which is over 3.3 million years old. That is one of the reasons why this archipelago has such an extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna. Additionally, it’s isolation from other land areas also gives it a high level of endemism.
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| The Galapagos Islands |
The Galapagos Islands promise many remarkable memories and up-close photographs. As the abundant sea lions languorously lay about their habitats, they do not pose a threat to the thousands of visitors each year and invite a myriad of personal moments around themselves. The famous blue-footed booby will put on an amazing mating display worthy of a standing ovation without any apprehension. Plentiful in numbers, land and marine iguanas laze around happily under the heat of a powerful equatorial sun. Just watch your step because they are everywhere!
Below the surface of the crystalline ocean, snorkelers can silently maneuver through the waters in the presence of white-tipped reef sharks, penguins, and sea turtles while in some cases the sea lions jovially nip at your fins. In an environment so magnificently varied, every second is a new experience.
Wildlife: When visiting the Galapagos Islands, you will be one of the few people to roam through the spectacular landscapes that have such special environmental conditions. Their wonderful animal and plant world is mainly endemic (only to be found on these islands). The most common species on the islands are blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, Galapagos turtles, sea lions, the cormorant which is unable to fly, Galapagos albatrosses, marine iguanas, land iguanas, Galapagos penguins, and the famous finches that captivated Darwin and served as a foundation for his theory of evolution of the species.
The sea world in Galapagos is even more fascinating than the land animals and is considered to be one of the most exotic places for scuba diving. Here you can watch sea animals that are bigger than those found in any other part of the ocean. They can be seen in groups and in large quantities. Reports of sightings of whales, dolphins, sharks, rays, and many other inhabitants of this fascinating underwater world are frequent.
Climate: There are two very distinct seasons in the Galapagos Islands: one is hot and dry and the other is cold and wet. From January to June (in which short heavy rain showers occur) the temperature averages around 30° C. Rain temperatures range from 20° to 25° C. In the dry season from July to December the temperatures are a bit lower.
History: The islands were untouched by humans for a long time. It is said that the first humans in Galapagos were the Incas with their ruler Tupac Yupanqui. However, there is no evidence of this. The first written documents regarding the existence of the islands were delivered by Tomás de Berlanga, a Spaniard who was a bishop in Panama. He discovered the islands by accident in 1535 during voyage south.
The Galapagos Islands got the name "enchanted islands" from the Spanish pirate Diego de Rivadeneira, who believed that the islands disappeared from time to time. This idea most likely arose because at the time navigation instruments were not very accurate and did not always bring the navigator to the desired place.
The first settlers arrived on whaling fleets in 1793. However, the first permanent colonization did not begin until the 1950s. In 1932 the Galapagos Islands became a territory of Ecuador with the official name Archipiélago de Colón (Archipelago of Columbus). In 1959 the archipelago was declared a national park and tourism began in the 1970s.
Brief History of the Galapagos Islands
- 1485 It's accepted that a northern culture from Peru controlled by the Incas, the Chimu, were the main guests.
- 1535 The Bishop of Panama, Fray Tomas de Berlanga, was in course to Peru. His boat floated off base by the sea flows and "found" the Galapagos Islands.
- 1593 - 1710 The Galapagos Islands were privateers most loved safehouse and gracefully base for water and meat (especially the mammoth tortoises).
- 1793 - 1870 Industrial unrest had changed and instead of Spanish gold, sailors looked through the oil which originated from whale's fat. This misuse on the Galapagos, brought the tortoise, hide seals and sperm whales, close to termination.
- 1835 The Beagle visited the Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin contemplated and noticed the likenesses and contrasts of the vegetation. He presumed that the species, to endure, would slowly modify dependent on ecological conditions.
- 1859 After 20 years of his life gathering supporting proof, Darwin distributed "The Origin of the Species by Natural Selection".
- 1892 Galapagos is formally named "Archipélago de Colón" to pay tribute to Christopher Columbus' revelation of American 400 years sooner.
- 1959 100th Anniversary of the distribution of Darwin's Origin of Species, the Galapagos Islands turned into Ecuador's first National Park and the non-benefit Charles Darwin Foundation was set up to help the in the safeguarding of the islands.
- 1978 The Islands are proclaimed a World Heritage site by UNESCO underlining its general an incentive for humanity.
