GALAPAGOS - Fabled Islands
Everybody knows the Galapagos, thanks to that upstart English scientist, Charles Darwin. Visiting as a ship's doctor in 1835, Darwin’s eureka moment came with crucial inspiration whilst observing this “nature’s laboratory”. The theory of evolution was born… and this isolated archipelago, though still unreachable by most, came controversially to the world’s attention.
Arguably the most famous chain of islands in the world, yet relatively few people realise that Galapagos is inhabited at all, let alone that it has a well-developed infrastructure. Perhaps all those natural history films have coloured that misconception! And indeed, if it hadn't been for their extreme location, 966km (600 miles) off the west coast of Ecuador, perhaps mass tourism would have spoiled the islands years ago - but it remains to this day, a haven to natural wonders, that evolved as though lost in time.
Described as the world’s largest outdoor zoo, what it is most famous for is the astounding number of unique species; the giant tortoise that it is named after, the only species of penguin to live on the equator - and of course - the history-making finches now known as "Darwin's finches", to name but a few. What's also remarkable about the wildlife is how little they fear humans -and why would they... since they've never had to worry about predators here. Dolphins will gather nosily round your boat; young sea lions will show off their best moves as you snorkel among them; the blue-footed booby will perform its famous two-stepped mating dance right under your nose… they seem as happy to study us humans as the other way around. Not even the most magnificent natural history film can compare to awe of the actual experience.
The Ecuadorian government had had the foresight in 1959 to designate approximately 97 per cent of the archipelago as a National Park. In 1978 UNESCO declared the archipelago of 141 islands a World Heritage Site, and subsequently, a World Biosphere Reserve in 1985. In 2001 the World Heritage Site was extended to the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which constitutes the second largest marine reserve in the world, second only to Australia’s great barrier reef.
Now listed as the Frommer guide’s one of “the 11 places in the world to see before it disappears”, and given that only around 3% of land is allowed to be inhabited, you’ll begin to see why an opportunity to own a piece of this “world within a world”, as Darwin called it, seldom comes along.