The Galapagos Archipelago is an infinitely intriguing collection of over 60 islands and islets, most of which remain uninhabited – aside from the hundreds of endemic animal species, of course. An ecosystem all its own, the Galapagos Islands boast a biodiversity that is evident not just in its animal species, but also across its array of plants and landscapes. Here, you can find ancient lava fields and depleted volcanoes, picture-perfect white sand bays and some of the best snorkeling in the world, all within a day's travel. There are grassy highlands, mangroves and forests of giant cacti, as well as rocky outcrops and barren tundra. what you will get to see depends on which islands are included in your tour. 

The most popular islands are Isabela (the largest of the group), Espanola, Fernandina, Floreana, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Santiago – with lesser-known Genovesa, Marchena, Santa Fe, Baltra, Pinta and Pinzon making up the 13 recognized volcanic land masses. Certain species such as Sea Lions, Iguanas and Sally Lightfoot Crabs can be seen throughout the Galapagos. However, if visiting the northern islands (Santiago and Genovesa) look out for nesting seabirds, Turtles and Stingrays, native plant species and forest-covered islets.

The Western Isles (Isabela and Fernandina) are known for their Giant Tortoises, flightless Cormorants and Dolphins found in and around their lava fields; while the East is populated with Red-footed Boobies, Gulls and Waved Albatrosses. If you cruise South to the islands' sandy beaches, you'll find the White-tipped Reef Sharks and Frigate Birds of Espanola and Floreana.

Setting off from England in 1831, Darwin accompanied Captain Robert Fitzroy as companion and naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle, charting a five year voyage around South America. On September 15, 1835, on the return route across the Pacific, their ship arrived in the Galapagos Islands. Darwin was just 22 years old. You can imagine his delight: amid the volcanic geography of these islands, some 600 miles west of Ecuador’s mainland coast, plant life takes root in basalt rock (mineral-rich now-cooled lava flows), communities of sea lions relax on pristine beaches, and penguins swim in equatorial waters.

During 5 weeks of island-hopping, Darwin focused as much on geology as on biology. Darwin disembarked on San Cristóbal (September 17-22), Floreana (September 24-27), Isabela (September 29-October 2) and Santiago (October 8-17). He hunted, purchased and stuffed, bringing back to England in 1836 a huge collection of specimens as well as hundreds of pages of written observations and ideas. It was only years later, after studying his accumulated notes, that Darwin came to grasp the full significance of the differences among each island’s species. 1

In On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, a quarter century after his visit to the Galapagos, Darwin gave the world the Theory of Evolution. Calling it “natural selection”, he was proposing an alternative mechanism to the dominant explanation of the distribution of species on Earth, referred to as “Special Creation”. Running counter to the Special Creation's thesis that all species were created by God in the beginning times (with no changes occurring to species over time), Darwin explained that if “the distribution and type of species vary with respect to a particular trait, and if these variants have a different likelihood of surviving to the next generation, then, in the future, there will be more of those with the variant more likely to survive”. 2

Though broad acceptance of Darwin's ideas took decades if not centuries, the scientific view on the biological origins of life would be forever changed. Darwin also wrote a book called The Voyage of the Beagle, an account of his five year worldwide journey. But let's backtrack 300 years: many came to the Galapagos before Charles Darwin. 

Though fragments of broken pottery and other artifacts that predate the Spanish have been found in the Galapagos, no evidence suggests any permanent settlement before the 16th century. The first recorded visit came in 1535 when Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, accidentally arrived while investigating accounts of the barbaric actions of the Conquistadors. Berlanga's ship, caught in a dead calm, drifted westward into the Pacific, eventually coming upon the Galapagos, where he and his crew hoped to find fresh water. With no reason to stay they left, but not without sending word to King Carlos V of Spain, describing the unique and incredibly tame wildlife, including the numerous galapagos (giant tortoises). The islands appeared on maps in 1570 as the "Insulae de los Galopegos”. 3

After failing to bring about a coup, a band of disloyal soldiers of Fransisco Pizzaro (the Spanish Conquistador known for his expeditions that led to the fall of the Inca Empire and the Spanish conquest of Peru) were exiled from the continent. Like other animals transported here by the prevailing ocean currents, these ruffians with little nautical training eventually came upon the Galapagos. “Peering through fog and carried by currents, they felt as though the islands themselves were moving, that they were enchanted and named them ‘Las Islas Encantadas’.” 4

During the hostilities between the English Navy and the Spanish Armada, the English tacitly supported buccaneers who sacked ports up and down South America's Pacific coast. These pirates used the uninhabited Galapagos as base and refuge for much of the 1600s and early 1700s, a perfect place from which to attack treasure fleets (carrying gold and silver from South America to Spain) and seize sailing ships. One English buccaneer, William Ambrose Cowley, drew up the first basic navigational charts of the islands in 1678. William Dampier, an English naturalist and peer of Crowley's, visited the Galapagos during the 1680s and was one of the first to describe the Galapagos from a naturalist’s perspective in his book A New Voyage Round the World, published in 1697. Dampier coined the word “sea lion” and added more than 1,000 other words to the English language. 5

In the 1800's, as South America became increasingly independent of Spanish rule, mercantile vessels such as whaling ships came to the islands, especially Floreana. Whalers and maritime fur traders had lasting detrimental effects on the islands: the reduction of elephant tortoises and the near extinction of sperm whales. They killed and captured thousands of Galapagos tortoises to extract their fat for fresh protein; they discovered tortoises could be kept alive on ships for several months without any food or water. Along with whalers came fur-seal hunters, who brought Galapagos sea lions close to extinction. 6

On February, 12 1832, Ecuador annexed the Galápagos Islands – 3 years before Darwin arrived on the H.M.S. Beagle. This set in motion the eventual protection of the islands through what is today a partnership between national governance and not-for-profit environmental stewardship. The Ecuadorian National Park Service works closely with Sea Shepherd and Galapagos Conservancy, two not-for-profits dedicated to protecting the Galapagos' natural habitat and endemic species.