Insular

The Galápagos Islands

Officially known as: Archipiélago de Colón, these islands origins are volcanic. As a National Park and Marine Reserved these islands were studied by Charles Darwin, here is he conceived the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by natural selection. Galapagos is a group of 18 main islands, 3 small islands and 107 rocks and islets. Some of the Islands are still in the formation process, these are young islands like Isabela and Fernandina. The weather here is influenced by the Humboldt Current and periodically by the El Niño Current. The Galápagos Island was discovered by the European Fray Tomás de Berlanga when his vessel drifted off course due to diminishing winds. On March 10, 1535 he reached these islands and saw that other people from South America had already visited Galápagos prior to his arrival. There are no indigenous people living here, only five of the islands are populated by Ecuadorian Mestizos and a mixed descendants of Spanish colonists who arrived in the last century.

The Galápagos were discovered in 1535, but no humans lived there until the 1800s because of the inhospitable terrain. The Galápagos Marine Reserve is one of the largest marine protected areas in the world; its rich diversity of marine life also makes it attractive to scientist and tourists from all over the world. One of the greatest aspects of a trip to the islands, from a visitor’s point of view, is the fact that the animals living there are extremely tolerant of our presence; in fact, they have no natural fear of humans and allow us to approach them at close range. It is agreed among scientists that these islands were never connected to a mainland, which it means that every plant and animal was introduced from somewhere else. Here you find a diverse group of fauna that originated in the mainland’s like: the Caribbean, North, Central and South America. Some arrived as a result of the Humboldt Current from the Antarctic, among them: the fur sea lions and the penguins. Land birds and California sea lions most likely arrived from North America while pink flamingos and finches from the Caribbean. From South America we find land iguanas, giant tortoises, pelicans, cormorants and boobies. Most mammals were introduced either by ships or humans visiting the islands. The Galapagos archipelago is world famous for the role it played in helping Charles Darwin develop his theory on the origin of species by natural selection. These islands have since proved to be the ideal living laboratory for the study of biological evolution, having attracted thousands of scientists since Darwin's visit in 1835. Due to their remote location and harsh conditions, these islands have escaped intense human colonization and their original biological makeup remains relatively intact. However, increasing human population on the islands, and the increasing movement of goods from the continent and between the islands have led to a rapid rate of introduction of alien species. These are now considered to be the greatest threat to Galapagos biodiversity by both the Galapagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Foundation. Galápagos is truly a dream place to visit anytime of the year, they are probably the most famous wildlife-watching destination in the world. Sitting at 620 miles off the coast of Ecuador, this group of volcanic islands will mesmerize you with its animal habitat. You will have the pleasure to see from penguins living in the tropics and boobies with bright blue feet to tool-using woodpecker finches and male frigate birds turning their wrinkled throat sacs into extraordinary, fully inflated red balloons to prehistoric-looking marine iguanas. The most spectacular thing is that the boundaries are blurred here, the wildlife is unafraid of the human visitors. Visitors to the Galapagos will think they are in a mythical land; they can stay in hotels or resorts and even camp. However you decide to visit these islands, make sure you read and follow the rules, they are in effect to protect them and its ecology.