The Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands – what can we say. They are incredible, unusual, surprising and beautiful. Most people “do the Galápagos” on small cruise ships, but instead we decided to do a trip staying on land, with two hour speedboat rides between the islands. This allowed us to see a different side of the Islands and to put some money back into the local economy.

Obviously, most people go to the Islands to see the wildlife, but there is so much more to see than this. Firstly, the islands have only been inhabited since 1929, but were visited by pirates and sailors beforehand, so there is a lot of history there.

Secondly, there is the geography. Largely volcanic, the islands are formed from various eruptions and lava flows. These have given rise to some extraordinary landscapes, and partly explain why there are so many species of each single animal – there are fifteen species of giant tortoises as they are native to each island as well as being separated by lava rivers they cannot cross.

But the stars of the shows are the animals. There are schools of sealions everywhere, and often in the towns where they laze on park benches or the docks. There is a two metre/six foot rule to approach any animal, but sometimes they want to come and play and you have to back off sharply. In fact the biggest surprise is how close you get to any of the animals as they are literally not scared of humans.

Colourful land iguanas and their bland, but fascinating, marine iguanas are everywhere too. Sometimes you almost step on them as they are just in the way – on paths and bridges etc. There are also lots of wetlands for flamingoes, ducks and other birds. Perhaps most famously are the sixteen species of “Darwin Finches” which were part of the inspiration for the On the Origin of Species. All different, they are very friendly too.

The giant tortoises are truly enormous and are found “running” around the islands as slowly their habitats are being restored after various man-made and natural events e.g. introducing goats and feral cats as well as volcanic eruptions. However, they are most easily visible in the breeding centres where slowly the islands are building populations ready to be repopulated.

To see the wildlife of the islands properly you do need to go underwater. Snorkelling is enough, but you can swim with truly huge turtles and rays. Sometimes a sealion or penguin will zip past too, or a ray will glide along. However, the truly awesome ones are the sharks who shelter in caves and who are happy for you to confront them face to face.

However, the islands are most famous for the blue-footed boobies. A name that triggers sniggers from any schoolboy, these birds were raising chicks when we were there. It is truly extraordinary to sit beside a male, female and two white chicks as they completely ignore you – a very special experience.

So how do you sum up the experience of the Galápagos. There are an extraordinary amount of animals at every turn, but unlike, say, in a jungle, you do see the same things again and again. It is amazing though to see the marine animals and coming face to face with a shark or giant turtle is incredible

They are an extraordinary mix of geography and wildlife and well worth a visit. And if you get a group of fun individuals from 21 to 72 as we did, with the most willing, funny and knowledgeable guide as good as Indira, it will be a truly memorable experience.