Galapagos Islands

Over Galapagos

Situated 1,000 km from the continental Ecuador, the island is made up of 13 large islands, 5 of which are populated. Learn more about the islands by taking a tour with us! Many travellers, scholars and wildlife enthusiasts have been admiring and studying the interesting volcanic archaeology of the island and its abundant wildlife.

So if you're interested in who first entered the islands - Incas, fugitives, swindlers or sailors - learn more about the island's people. Apropos men on the islands, Charles Darwin, was one of the first to come to see him, as he was intrigued by the islands' rich heritage.

During his five weeks here he initiated the development of his renowned evolutionary theories. Come with us and experience the voyage of a life amidst frisky sealions, sleek album horses, passionate scarlet Sally Light-foot crabs and insidious frisky warblers.

The Galápagos Islands - 7 Unbelievable facts

A visit to the Galápagos Islands is like a walk in the midst of an animal-documentation. Travellers from all over the world come here to discover the unbelievable diversity of the islands' indigenous game. Pinguins, Peltseals, Giant Turtles, Sea Iguans, Blue-footed Booby, Falcons - the shortlist is inexhaustible. There are seven interesting facts about these astonishing islands:

The Galápagos Islands have over 400 different types of catfish with more than 50 different endemics. The islands are a haven for lovers of shellfish, divers and snorkellers alike. Seagulls are the only animals known to be able to float on the isle. Researchers believe that South America's terrestrial liguans were driven into the ocean like tree trunks and finally landed on the Galapagos a million years ago.

Giants Turtles are probably the most emblematical of all the Galápagos. The name Galapagos comes from the old Español term for nut, a hint to the turtle shell. A further well-known resident of the Galápagos is the Blue-footed boobie. These islands are also home to the Red-footed and Nazca gannets.

The seabed rising from the sea bed has contributed to the formation of the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos were not really explored by Charles Darwin, but his name is inseparable from the islands. In 1835, 300 years after the islands were found in 1535, when a vessel went off course.

His five-weeks stay, however, led to his evolutionary theories, which he presented in 1859 in "The Origin of Species". Darwin noted in this publication that it was possible to recognize the turtle -derived turtle - by the form of its shell and how the coral and humming birds differed from place to place.

Piracy was common on Spain's trading lanes from the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries. As the islands were so strategic, these corsairs began to use the Galápagos as hiding places, according to the protocols of the ships. Although the islands did not have a good stock of freshwater, the Galápagos were a useful resource and also used as a pleasant secluded place to hide the prey of the Brethren.