Quito
HostelsQuick FactsArticlesRestaurantsTravelVolunteersLanguage SchoolsMore
GMT-5
Galapagos Islands on 19/09/08
Galapagos Islands
The theory of natural selection. We’ve all been exposed to it, as well as evolution. Do you know where Charles Darwin first formulated these pillars of scientific thought? His time with the famous finches of the Galapagos Islands! These birds and his time in South America led directly to his famous discoveries.
The Galapagos Islands are a small archipelago belonging to Ecuador, though they are very isolated from the mainland. Think Hawaii and the US, but on a smaller scale. They lie approximately 620 miles from the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The islands were perfect for Darwin’s studies because they are extremely isolated from outside influence. Even today, the wildlife on the archipelago have no fear of humans. And oh the wildlife you will see! Giant tortoises, colonies of sea lions and marine iguanas, penguins, and of course Darwin’s finches are just to name a few.
The islands are strictly controlled in terms of tourism, but trips are well worth the effort. Reaching the islands by plane is the easiest route, trying to go by boat is difficult and will not save money. The two major departure cities by air for the islands are Quito and Guayaquil, with flights generally being cheaper in Guayaquil. Once on the islands it is fairly easy to organize a cruise or island hop by personal boat, though most tourists book far in advance during the high seasons of June to September and December to January because of crowding.
Once on the islands, boat is by far the best way to see the wildlife. Like I mentioned above, booking one of these cruises during high season is best done from your home country. It will be more expensive that way, but it will also guarantee your spot and save you the hassle of trying to book a tour from Guayaquil or Quito. You can try to arrange tours on the islands themselves but that can be risky and isn’t guaranteed.
When looking for the right tour to book, there are a number of factors to keep in mind. Be sure to check your itinerary, because many tours will skip the outer islands that can be very interesting. Activities should include landings during the daylight hours, which is the only time you can set foot on the islands. Make sure to check exactly what the cost of the tour entails, since many will not include airfare from Quito or Guayaquil or the park fee itself.
For me personally (as a scuba diver), the Galapagos are one of my top diving destinations in the world. Not many places can offer completely protected marine environments in such pristine waters. The area is considered for advanced divers only, but it consistently rates as some of the best diving around. There are a number of live-aboard diving cruises available including Lammer Law, Sky Dancer, and the Galapagos Agressor I and II. Not a diver? Don’t worry; most of the regular cruises include daily snorkeling tours, which are excellent as well.
The Galapagos Islands offer an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in nature to see one of the best preserved areas on earth completely unspoiled. Ecuador has done a fantastic job in securing the islands against pollution and irresponsible tourism. Diving, hiking, snorkeling, bird watching… the islands have it all. Be sure to make the Galapagos part of your South American adventures!
Quito
HostelsQuick FactsArticlesRestaurantsTravelVolunteersLanguage SchoolsMore
GMT-5
Cheryl
What a great website! I arlely like the variety of useful information you present.I thought you and your readers would be interested in the information in this News Release about my new book for travelers to the Galapagos Islands, In the Galapagos Islands with Herman Melville. If you would like to see a sample of the book, I will be happy to send you a free pdf of the first chapter (also available for $.99 on Kindle and NOOK as Galapagos Landscapes ). Just request it.Best wishes,Lynn MichelsohnCo-author of In the Galapagos Islands with Herman Melville and Galapagos Landscapes News Release: Herman Melville Tours the Galapagos IslandsWho knew that Herman Melville, world-famous author of Moby-Dick, spent time in the Galapagos Islands? And what’s more, that he later wrote a fascinating series of magazine articles about these Enchanted Isles, as they were called by early explorers and Buccaneers (a fancy name for pirates)!Melville first glimpsed the Galapagos Islands in 1841 as a young seaman on the whaler Acushnet out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Years later, after the initial failure of his novel Moby-Dick, he tried to regain his lost popularity with the reading public by writing a series ten of magazine sketches he called “The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles,” recalling the strange worlds he found in the Galapagos archipelago. Now, award-winning author Lynn Michelsohn has put this series of ten sketches together with striking photographs of Galapagos wildlife and landscapes, and modern introductions to the sketches, in a new book called In the Galapagos Islands with Herman Melville (ISBN 978-0-9771614-0-9, 144 pages, $12.95 in paperback, $9.99 on Kindle and NOOK). In the Galapagos Islands with Herman Melville includes . . .~ Herman Melville’s ten sketches that he called “The Encantadas or Enchanted Isles.”~ Forty of Moses Michelsohn’s striking photographs (in color in the ebook) from the Galapagos Islands: birds, iguanas, giant tortoises, sea lions, exotic plants, and volcanic landscapes.~ Lynn Michelsohn’s introduction to the work, and to each individual sketch.Are you planning a trip to the Galapagos Islands? Bring In the Galapagos Islands with Herman Melville with you, or read it before you leave home. Enrich your experience with glimpses of the archipelago’s captivating natural and human history written over 150 years ago by that famous fellow traveler. Discover teeming seabird rookeries, stark volcanic landscapes, and “bewitched” giant tortoises. Meet buccaneers and explorers, colonists and castaways, whalers and naturalists. Let history and legend, fiction and fact, myth and mystery swirl around you as you enter this unique island world stretching along our planet’s Equator. About the Authors:Herman Melville wrote in the genre that has been called “dark romanticism.” “The Encantadas,” like Moby-Dick and his well-respected novella “Billy Budd,” draws on his shipboard experiences in the South Seas as a young man. Lynn Michelsohn has written such diverse books as Roswell, Your Travel Guide to the UFO Capital of the World! and Gullah Ghosts: Stories and Folktales from the South Carolina Lowcountry. Her longstanding interests in both the Galapagos Islands and Herman Melville led to this work.Like Melville, biologist and wildlife photographer Moses Michelsohn found tortoises on the Galapagos Islands fascinating. Tree frogs in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the southeastern United States remain his primary research interest, however.