Galapagos Islands Overview and History:
The Galapagos Archipelago is a cluster of some 13 volcanic islands and 6 smaller
isles and rocks located just under the equator, about 600 miles west of Ecuador
in South America with a population of around 30,000 people. Together Galapagos
islands span
about 50,000 sq km of ocean. The Galapagos archipelago is world-renowned for its
unique and fearless wildlife. Charles Darwin was the first to make a scientific
study of the islands in 1835, and also provided him an inspiration for his
theory of evolution by natural selection. The islands are therefore very popular
amongst natural historians.
Today the Galapagos are owned by Ecuador and are maintained as part of that
nation's national park system.
Historically these islands were visited by pirates, whalers and sealers. The biggest attractions to these visitors were the
fur seals and the giant tortoises. Tortoises could be kept alive in the hold of
ships for up to a year with no food or water so, therefore the tortoise
populations were decimated. Today, the Pinta island tortoise is survived by a
single male, named "Lonesome George". Galapagos islands are also home to sea lions,
penguins, marine iguanas, flamingoes, frigate birds, otters and blue and red
footed boobies. The park service is trying to eliminate goats, rats, cats,
dogs, and introduced plant species on many of the islands which do significant
damage to the native species.
This is a Unesco world heritage site and in most locations the tourist access is limited and visitors are supposed to be with a pre-certified park guide. The the number of visitors on each island is limited. Snorkeling & scuba diving are very popular activity.
Getting there:
Most people arrive here by air, after which seeing the sites and wildlife of the Galapagos is best done by boat (although expensive). There are hotels and other accommodation facilities in the towns of Puerto Ayora, Puerto Villamil and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. The main airport on Santa Cruz island, originally an air base built by the US Navy during WW II, is located on Baltra, a small, low island separated from the northwest corner of Santa Cruz by the narrow Itabaca Channel. You can depart from Quito and Guayaquil on a daily basis for the Isla Baltra airport.
You can arrange boat / cruise tours from Guayaquil, Quito, and even from Puerto Ayora. Although booking from home country will be convenient but expensive. During high tourist season it can be tough to get reservation at the last moment.
Climate:
During June to November the islands may be misty.
Rainy season lasts from January to March.
Best time to go is April to May, and November.
Popular Galapagos Islands are:
• Santa Cruz Island ( Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also called the Indefatigable Island, is located in the center of the Galapagos archipelago. It also the center of human activity in the Galapagos, since the National Park Headquarters, the Darwin Research Station, and the largest settlement in the Galapagos, Puerto Ayora, are all located on Academy Bay on the south side of the island.
Santa Cruz is the only island having a road that crosses its interior (running from Puerto Ayora in the south to the Itabaca Channel crossing in the north), thus providing tourists a rare opportunity to see the interior and higher elevations of a Galapagos island. Santa Cruz is a good place to see many of the animals that make the Galapagos Islands fauna so unique and interesting. Giant tortoises may be easily seen at Darwin Research Station, as well as in the highland tortoise preserve. Marine iguanas are quite common along the shore of Academy Bay, though notably less so than 20 years ago. Their cousins, the somewhat larger and lighter colored land iguanas, are particularly abundant on Las Plazas, as are sea lions. In addition to the many sea and shore birds, such as the lava heron, Darwin's finches are common around Academy Bay. At first glance, they do not appear to be particularly interesting. But the different adaptation and specialization of the 13 species of these birds, particularly beak shape, were the key observation that inspired Darwin's theory of natural selection.
Popular Resturants on Santa Cruz Island:
- Hotel Silberstein which offers international as well as Ecuadorian cuisine and
moderately priced.
- Red Mangrove Inn which offers breakfast on the waterfront terrace and you will
be accompanied with iguanas, crabs and Frigate birds.
Popular beaches:
Gardner Bay on Espanola Island and Punta Cormorant on Floreana Island
• Wolf and Darwin Islands (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Though Wolf reaches a maximum elevation of only 250 m and Darwin only 165 m
above sea level, the islands are only the tips of much larger volcanoes that
rise more than 1000 m above the sea floor. These two small islets are inhabited
only by sea birds and are rarely visited. The relatively quite waters in the bay
formed by Wolf's caldera is, however, a wonderful place for snorkeling and scuba
diving.
It once had a thriving tortoise population, but the population was decimated by whalers and fisherman. The introduction of goats to the island by fisherman in 1958 may have been the last straw. The island has steep slopes, the summit, at 850 m elevation, has a small collapse pit, but no caldera is present.
• Genovesa (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also known as Tower Island: A great variety of nesting birds may be seen there, including masked boobies, red-footed boobies, Galapagos owls, frigates, swallow-tail gulls, lava herons, and the rare lava gulls. Also to be seen there are sea lions and fur seals. The fur seal, actually a species of sea lion rather than a true seal, was nearly hunted to extinction by the early part of the twentieth century, but has recovered. The island consists of a single volcano, which emerges only 200 feet above sea level. A breached caldera on the south side of the island forms Darwin Bay. A small lake-filled crater is located in the center of the island.
• Marchena (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also known as Bindloe is a large shield volcano. The island, part of Galapagos islands, measures about 18 by 12 km and is one of the three small islands in the northern group (Pinta, Marchena, and Genovesa). Marchena is rather desolate and has no fresh water and hence has never been settled, and its flora and fauna have not been disturbed by feral animals or introduced plants. Except for diving in the waters around it, it is off-limits to tourists and is therefore seldom visited. Tortoises have apparently never inhabited Marchena.
• Santiago (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also called James: It is the fourth largest island in the Galapagos archipelago (following Isabela, Fernandina and Santa Cruz). With the exception of some of the large western volcanoes of Isabela and Fernandina, it is the also most volcanically active, with many young flows and cones to be seen, particularly along the south, west, and east coasts. Life is abundant near the shore. Lava lizards are common on many parts of Santiago, as well as the other islands. Marine iguanas and the brilliant sally light-foot crabs are, of course, present, along with the more unusual Galapagos penguin, blue-footed boobies, and the lava heron. Vegetation in the interior of the island has unfortunately been decimated by feral goats. The resulting loss of food sources threatens not only the native vegetation, but the native animals such as the giant tortoise and land iguana as well.
• Fernandina (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also known as Narborough Island, consists of a single large volcano, which rises to an elevation of 4500 feet (1400 m), located on Galapagos islands. It is probably the youngest volcano in the archipelago and is certainly the most active, erupting every few years. Fernandina has not suffered as much from the presence of man (particularly, the animals he has left) as other islands, so the indigenous wildlife is still abundant. Among the animals to be seen there are marine and land iguanas, tortoises, hawks, sea lions and a great variety of sea birds, such as flightless cormorants.
• Floreana (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also known as Charles or Santa Maria Island, is the southeastern most island in the archipelago. It is one of the smaller of the major islands, measuring approximately 12 by 15 km and rising to an elevation of 640 m (2000 feet). The long history of settlement has adversely affected the native flora and fauna. The Floreana race of giant tortoises was extinct by 1846. However, flamingos may still be seen in Flamingo Bay (above) and sea turtles may be seen nesting on the beach near Cormorant Point.
• San Cristobal (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
It is also known as Chatham, is the easternmost island in the Galapagos. It is the site of the only permanent stream in the archipelago and is also where Darwin first went ashore in 1835. an Cristobal is also the site of the oldest surviving settlement in the Galapagos, El Progresso, established in 1869. It has since been overshadowed by a second town, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, located on the southeast coast. This is one of two points of departure for tour boats operating in the islands and nearly half the islands' 50,000 annual tourists pass through its airport, which has operated since the mid-1980s. San Cristobal island is made up of two coalesced volcanoes.
• Espanola (Galapagos Islands Tourism):
Also known as Hood, is one of the smaller Galapagos Islands, measuring 7 by 14 km and reaching an elevation of just over 200 m. Since it is low, Espanola is particularly dry and inhospitable section of Galapagos islands. Without a reliable source of fresh water, it has not been settled and has not been as threatened by introduced mammals as some other islands. Espanola now has a growing population of young tortoises. While inhospitable to terrestrial life, Espanola is a haven for seabirds. It has the largest known colony of waved albatrosses, magnificent birds of enormous wing span. The high southern cliffs provide the elevation these large birds need to take off. Many other bird, such as the red-billed tropic bird, may also be seen there. The Espanola race of marine iguanas have particularly striking red coloration. In the northeast of the island at a site called the blowhole, wave energy focused by cracks in the rocks produces enormous geysers of seawater to the delight of onlookers.
External Reference: geo.cornell.edu
