Galapágos Islands: Highlights

There is nothing on earth that compares to the Galápagos Islands and Marine Reserve. In this section I share representative images from the 16 islands I visited in June of 2024. Additional images are further organized as separate island-specific sections. The diversity of wildlife on land and in the water is remarkable. Equally astonishing is the animals’ lack of fear towards human visitors. Charles Darwin and the crew of the HMS Beagle visited four of the Islands in September of 1830 (San Cristóbal (formerly Chatham), Santiago (James), Isabela (Albemarle), Floreana (Charles)) but it was not until he returned to England and studied the collections of plants and animals with his colleagues was the full significance of the Galápagos as a demonstration of the theory of evolution by means of natural selection fully appreciated. A province of the Republic of Ecuador and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the archipelago and the surrounding marine reserve is comprised of 18 major and many smaller islands for a total of 127 altogether.  Access to the islands is highly regulated by the Ecuadoran government to maintain this precious resource and today visitors are able to continue to enjoy the uniqueness and wonder of the Islands.