Darwin's Galapagos
A guide to the Galapagos Islands,
whether you're interested in the natural history, the geology
and wildlife or the unspoiled unique wilderness that is the
Galapagos Archipelago.
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If you want to travel to the
Galapagos on a cruise or other vacation,
there's information on trips that are running this year and
next.
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If you want to see pictures of the Galapagos
Islands, birds,
iguanas,
tortoises,
seals and
landscapes, you're sure
to find enough to whet your appetite.
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If armchair travel is your thing and researching
the ideas and background of Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle or
the evolutionary ideas he developed through his studies of Natural
History, then you'll find some useful commentaries and resources.
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Nazca booby (masked booby) Sula grantii
Galapagos Sea Lion
Zalophus californianus wollebacki
with non-native species
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The Galapagos Islands lie almost exactly on the equator.
They have been uninhabited for most of recorded history and were very quiet
- almost unknown - until they became a useful stopping off and provisioning
point for whaling ships and pirates.
Despite this activity, little notice was paid and their
greatest claim to fame might have been that the author Herman Melville (who
later wrote Moby Dick) visited while on a whale ship, had
HMS Beagle not
landed in 1835 carrying the young British naturalist Charles Darwin.
The islands and their natural history were to be of the
utmost importance in helping Darwin to formulate his theory of Evolution
by Natural Selection.
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