The islands emerged about five million years ago, give or take a million, as a result of violent volcanic action. In geological terms, this should be considered a recent event.
As the young islands were cooling off, say, two million years later, some species gradually arrived. They were live organisms riding on "rafts of vegetation" from the shores of Central and South America. Unusual climatic events, like flooding, can take lots of vegetation rafts eventually to the ocean. Therefore, it is pure chance that allows a raft to eventually reach Galápagos. These early immigrants had to adapt to a peculiar new environment, and simply evolved -- slowly -- in a different direction from their continental ancestors. And, wonders of nature, they developed into species unique to the islands, with features not seen in their past ancestors.
In fact, when Darwin published his book On The Origin Of The Species, the nineteenth-century thinkers confirmed long held suspicions that species were not immutable, and praised the archipelago as a living laboratory has become the greatest observatory and laboratory of evolution.
GALAPAGOS: OFFICIAL DISCOVERY
How many times? You choose...
1. When the first human being put a firm foot on an island;
2. Centuries later, in 1832, when Ecuador took possession of the archipelago and gave official names to the islands;
3. More than a century after that, when Metropolitan Touring developed the concept of responsible tourism, and designed thoughtfully planned itineraries to show the islands' fragile beauty without harming the natural process of local ecosystems. This is why your travel choice does make a difference.
The first human being in Galapagos was Tomás de Berlanga, a Spanish bishop who was navigating close to the shores of Central America on an apostolic mission in February of 1535. His boat had been stilled by calm winds, and the Panamá Current pushed it southward only to know that the arrival was to some mysterious islands, which had no evident charms. "Birds are so silly," he wrote the King of Spain, Charles V, "they know not how to flee". The islands had been officially discovered. It was March 1535.
Eventually, the bishop's party sailed back to the continent with the first encouraging breeze. The islands were reported to Spain, but no effort was made to colonize them based on the somewhat uninviting descriptions from Berlanga.
Anyway, having arrived less that 500 years ago, humans are some of the newest "living organisms" inhabiting the Galapagos.
ISOLATED AND REMOTE
Sometimes the Galapagos become invisible, almost illusory at short distances, particularly in the dense veil of early morning. Remember the waters surrounding the islands are a bit cold for tropical standards. This produces a fine mist (aka, garúa) as cool air invades warmer patches of air. Thus, an early fog can be quite deceiving at telling what's ahead. This is how the islands picked up the name of Las Encantadas; islands that suddenly appeared, as the mist evaporated, and islands that disappeared as the mist engulfed them.
Then, in 1570, a map of the Spanish New World drawn by a Flemish cartographer circulated in the Caribbean, showing the elusive islands, for the first time, with the unpoetic name of Islas de los Galapagos (Islands of the Giant Tortoises). This map, in buccaneer's hands, was used to maraud up and down the Pacific in the 1600's.
During the 17th century and a good art of the 18th, the astute pirates found in the Galapagos a safe place to hide, repair their vessels, map future raids and stock up on fresh meat, killing some tortoises by the thousands. But they apparently left no buried treasures and eventually decided that the Caribbean was more challenging after all.
Late in the 18th century came the whaler fleets that made the archipelago a center of operations, but after a number of years the whalers, too, left when the profits weren't worth the costly, lengthy routes. The whalers are, indeed, the human group that leaves the first devastating impact on the islands: thousands of giant tortoises are killed, and the introduction of domestic animals. These events will prove later the reasons for having a strong conservation campaign in today's Galápagos.
In sum, nobody really wanted the Galapagos -- until 1832. On February 12th, Colonel Ignacio Hernandez, of Ecuador, with instructions from General Jose de Villamil, planted the Ecuadorian flag on Floreana Island, and took possession of what he named officially Las Islas Galápagos on behalf of his government. Some sixty years later, in 1892, most of the islands received a Spanish name, all related to the Discovery of America.
Metropolitan Touring takes great pleasure in introducing you to the ever-changing ecological paradise comprised in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador.
The Galapagos Islands have been named after the giant galapagos tortoises. The archipelago, 1000 Km. (600 miles) off Ecuador's Pacific Coast originated from undersea volcanic activity, six million years ago. The archipelago's 13 major islands, 6 smaller ones, and scores of islets are all part of Ecuador's National Park system.
In 1835, the English naturalist Charles Darwin visited the islands and discovered this "living laboratory" which inspired his writings on the Theory of Evolution. Many of the animals on the Galapagos Islands have developed into different species from their continental relatives, and because they have never experienced man as a predator, they show no fear of humans.
The world's most wondrous group of islands is yours for unhurried exploration. Follow the nature trails; enjoy the amazing sights, wade and even dive among the animals of land and sea.
Guests are taken to shore in small groups by a multilingual naturalist guide, who will explain the fascinating geology and history of an eco-world that takes you back millions of years. There is ample opportunity to walk, swim, snorkel, photograph, and observe the abundant variety of wildlife on each island. You can swim with sea lions, walk among black marine iguanas basking in the sun and observe the elaborate mating rituals of boobies, albatrosses, or male frigate birds displaying their red pouches.
Flexible itineraries of three, four and seven nights offer a variety of options for trekkers and swimmers, writers and readers, painters and photographers, bird watchers and stargazers, visionaries and dreamers...
Metropolitan Touring offers environmentally friendly programs aboard its recently refurbished vessels, the 90 guest(s) M/V SANTA CRUZ and the 40 guest(s) Yacht ISABELA II, to provide you with unforgettable experience that quite possibly may well be the most fascinating journey of your lifetime. |
