The Galapagos
A Little World’s History
The natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself..
Charles Darwin, Journal of Researches
The Galapagos possesses a set of conditions that set them apart from other island groups in the world. A complex system where geology, oceanography, and biology interact and affect one another in wonderful ways. Let’s cover some of it’s many wonders to get familiar with what makes the Galapagos so remarkable.
Fearless Nations
Credit: Ameen Aqeel.
Dubbed the world’s laboratory of evolution, the Galapagos is home to an abundance of species with adaptations found nowhere else on earth, from sea dwelling iguanas to cormorants that lost their ability to fly, but that’s not why it’s a mecca for wildlife enthusiasts.
Read more about what makes it so unique.
Hosts of History
Credit: Ameen Aqeel.
“Birds.. so silly, they know not how to flee” wrote Frey Tomas de Berlanga in a letter to Charles VI of Spain describing his journey. The first official record of the islands was marked in 1535. The islands are famous for their inspiration to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. But they were host to a range of many more historical characters, bishops, pirates, whalers, and legends.
Born from Fire
Credit: Diego Paredes.
Magma rises from the Earths’ core, breaking through its crust, and a torrent of lava erupts to form strange landscapes. On the Earths’ surface, calderas, lava fields & tubes, black sand beaches, and puffing volcanic peaks are created while rich volcanic soil feeds weird and wonderful flora. Such geological processes tell a great deal about the world we live in, what stories do they tell us about the Galapagos?
shaped by water
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
For an equator straddling group of islands, the Galapagos is surprisingly un-tropical. Darwin noted that an ocean current might be the main reason for the weather there, and he was right!
A key in understanding the archipelago is understanding how ocean currents affect the world’s climate and biodiversity.
A LIVING MUSEUM, A LABORATORY OF EVOLUTION
and a trip of a lifetime
I witnessed the full cycle of life in a matter of 3 weeks. A Frigate bird laid an egg as we were on an exploration walk. A waved albatross clumsily waddled across us, we saw it feeding its chick minutes later. After picking up what I thought was a plastic bag off the shore, we notice a sea lion recovering with its newborn pup, the plastic bag was the placenta. Another day had us walking past an abandoned & starving sea lion pup. No interference whatsoever is allowed. Corpses in varying stages of decay are among the sightings as well. All is part of nature.
I’ve never had a direct answer to “What’s your favorite trip or destination?” but now I do! it’s the Galapagos islands. After traveling to many parts of the world and experiencing destinations in various ways, I can state with full confidence that this is a trip of a lifetime!
There’s always a sense of amazement just around the corner of your eye. I’d be admiring one fascinating thing and miss something else just a few meters away. Even after being on the job for decades, naturalist guides don’t fail to mention how they still see many natural wonders happening for the 1st time. Such a destination is the closest thing to being in a nature documentary, the only thing missing is Sir David Attenborough.
Swim while a couple of penguins zoom past you, spot the only marine iguana species in the world munching on algae, and walk next to centennial giant tortoises to then admire incredible sunsets. All of these are just examples of the possible experiences in The Galapagos islands.
97% of the Galapagos is a National Park. This archipelago in the Pacific ocean is made of 13 major islands, 4 of which are inhabited while the rest is strictly controlled, only authorized boats with certified naturalist guides on board are allowed to visit them. Listed among the first ever UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1979, it was on the “sites in danger” list less than 30 years afterwards (it was removed from the list in 2010).
You should walk cautiously in order not to step on a lizard or trip over a sea lion. It’s easy to miss a pile of iguanas huddled together, thinking they’re just another rock. Even after your eye adjusts to spotting wildlife there’s too much to see everywhere you look. It was my kind of paradise, pure wonder at all times. The islands’ remoteness, abundant biodiversity, and historical importance all come together to make a destination like no other.
Credit: Ameen Aqeel
Other than “You went to the GALAPAGOS?! How was it? ” another question I get is “What’s the Galapagos?”. I didn't know which country the Galapagos was part of until I looked into Ecuador. It wasn’t part of my plan until I was already a couple of months into a trip in latin America. All I knew about it was some of the imagery showed in Discovery or Nat Geo, I never even thought about traveling there. It seemed mysterious and inaccessible —which I think should be the case, there’s a lot of debate about negative effects of tourism—, so in the coming weeks I’ll be posting information about the enchanted islands, its wildlife, how to explore it in different ways, and much more. In trying to unravel this world wonder, I hope to encourage more visitors to take responsibility in the conservation & protection of the magnificent world we live in.