History of Galapagos Islands

Photo of Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

These islands are located just below the equator, 600 miles off the coast of Equador in South America. There are around 19 volcanic islands and range in different sizes. The oldest island are over 4 million years old, while the youngest islands are still being formed today. The islands has fascinated people for hundreds of years. There is so much wildlife; such as Penguins, tropical birds, albatross, blue footed boobies, pelicans, gull birds, hawks, finches, snakes, iguanas, totties and the Komodo dragons and much more. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit, no wonder Darwin fell in love with this place.

The Galapagos Island were first discovered by accident in 1535, when Thomas Berlanga's ship was carried out to the islands by the ocean currents. Later in 1835 the islands were studied by Charles Darwin, he was fresh out of college when he went on his expedition to Galapagos Island, aboard a ship named HMS Beagle.

Darwins very radical idea on the structure of the living world transformed biology from a collection of curious but disconnected facts into a vigorous and unified science. His theory of evolution by natural selection originated during a five year voyage around the world as a naturalist on board the HMS Beagle.The first crude navigation of the islands was done by Ambrose Cowley in 1864. He named the individual island after some of his fellow pirates or English Noblemen, later they were renamed.

The Galapagos Islands are a place born of fire. In the last 200 years a remarkable fifty plus eruptions have occurred, some threatening the fauna and flora, some creating new land, such as the lava flow on Santiago Island, this was unseen in Darwins time. As the tectonic plates move (at a rate of about 5cm per year) the volcanic activity moves with them, creating newer islands to the west and reducing activity of older islands to the east.

The islands animals are unique in the world, do to its exotic wild life and environment, that can only be seen in the group of beautiful and enchanted islands located in the Pacific Ocean. The animals in the Galapagos are unafraid of man and they are so different from any others found elsewhere. This fact make visitors wonder about their very existence on our planet. Galapagos Islands wild life is one of the major attractions and there are thousands of visitors a year.

There are a few islands that have inhabited towns, most of the islands do not. Two of the islands have airports. The towns are small but are well equipped with modern conveniences.You are not allowed anywhere on the island without a tour guide and not allowed off the trails. The high season for tourists to visit is usually June to August. Tourists with interest in the volcanic origins may prefer to visit in the cool dry season, when conditions are more pleasant for hiking. I enjoyed posting this and I hope you enjoy it as well.