Introduction

The Galapagos Islands were among the destinations we were especially looking forward to. They hold a unique position in history as the place where Charles Darwin came to his theories about natural selection. It is still intensely studied; a large proportion of the species found in the Galapagos are endemic – found nowhere else in the world. The Galapagos are located on the equator (we were at 0 degrees, 30 minutes south latitude), about 900 km off the coast of Ecuador. It's hard to get to from just about anywhere.

It was fascinating both for its wildlife as well as for the gyrations that accompanied our visit. You see, our ship, MV Discovery, was the first large cruise ship (425 passengers) ever to come to Galapagos. This turned out to be as interesting a story as the creatures we saw…but we'll talk about the wildlife first.

Wildlife

Lush tropical Eden it is not. It's dry scrub for the most part – reminiscent of scrubland of the Florida Keys -- 'cept its volcanic. There're about a dozen islands of any size, all volcanic and rocky.

The islands are in an interesting position at the confluence of several major currents, which brings lots of nutrients for fish (and in turn, sea birds and whales).

The animals that make the islands famous are, for the most part, quite ordinary-looking. The most famous of the wildlife, "Darwin's finches", are plain little brown birds, with different shaped beaks. The lava lizards are little gray lizards – though the females have an orange streak down their side. The sea lions are more photogenic.

Tortoises, difficult to find except in captivity, are visually stunning but don't actually do much. (some are over 100 years old... they're entitled to be docile). The lava gull is a gray version of an ordinary seagull. (Virtually all endemic species have ordinary names prefaced with “lava”, “Darwin” or “Galapagos”, such as Darwin finch, lava lizard, Galapagos sea lion, etc).

Blue-Footed Boobie

Lava Heron

The thing that makes viewing these animals so magical is that they have virtually no fear of humans – it's possible to get quite close, as you can see from the pictures. They are, of course, also magical if you understand the story of their evolution – “The Beak of the Finch” is a Pulitzer-Prize winning book well worth reading.

Only two or three islands have human populations; the rest are uninhabited. Some have been entirely cleared of invasive species (goats, dogs, etc.), which is no mean feat: eradicating the goats off one island cost millions of dollars and took several years. The human enclaves are restricted to a small portion of the inhabited islands. The vast majority of the land is totally undeveloped.

Though you can take trips to the various smaller islands, in fact most of the species can be easily seen on the inhabited islands, often right in town, strolling across your path. (It's still worth a trip to the smaller islands to see them in a more natural context.

Park Rules

For a developing country, Ecuador has put in amazingly strong restrictions and enforcements on visiting the islands. Boats may land at specific landing spots only; there must be a trained guide for every 15 people; and people are not allowed to step off the well-marked trails. There are only 40 or so official trails. No recreational or commercial fishing is allowed; only the locals are allowed to catch fish. Emigration to the islands is (supposedly) tightly limited, though corruption seems to have overcome that rule. Though somewhat annoying at times, it is heartening to see how stringent the rules are.

Click the Next button for Part 2.

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