Five Reasons to Visit the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador will be one of our must visit places in our long term travel. To help us know the place better, I have the honor of featuring an expert and a local from Quito, Ecuador to show you this amazing, world's one of its kind wildlife sanctuary located in the equatorial Pacific archipelago with 19 small volcanic islands and over 40 islets.

Five Legitimate Reasons to Visit the Galapagos Islands

By Robin Slater

While many travel destinations claim to be "unique", the Galapagos Islands are exactly that – UNIQUE! It's the "Natural Selection".

"… Imagine sailing amid undisturbed volcanic islands, home to some of the Earth's most extraordinary and mysterious creatures …"

… Venture among …. curious and peculiar Blue-footed Boobies, ageless and eternal giant tortoises and the endemic and unusual marine iguana."

Now, if you're still looking for reasons to visit this rare, unusual and unique destination …

#1 Get up close to the World's ONLY marine lizard known on the planet.

The Galapagos Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is unique in many ways. Their oddest behaviour is that they graze on algae beds. Marine iguanas are also famed for their diving abilities – they can descend for as long as 45 minutes and to depth of 30 m (98 ft).

You will not just see one … but hundreds of these creatures along most shorelines in the Galapagos.

#2 Experience a close encounter with a Giant Tortoise.

The Galapagos Giant Tortoise (Geochelone elephantous) is probably the best known and most emblematic of all Galapagos animals and even gave the archipelago its name. Eleven species of giant tortoise are found throughout the Galapagos Islands. The most famous of all is the famous Lonesome George (from Pinta island).

Although they are found throughout the archipelago (many places tourists are not permitted), the best places tourist see them is on Santa Cruz Island, in the Charles Darwin Research Station – where 'Lonesome George' calls home – and the highlands (e.g. Las Primicias) where they roam around in the wild. They can also be enjoyed in the highlands of San Cristobal Island.

#3 The Rich Diversity of Underwater Creatures.

As most of the Galapagos archipelago is underwater it makes perfect sense that just as much wildlife is found in the waters surrounding the islands.

Common memories of anyone that has visited the Galapagos Islands is their unique underwater encounters with sea turtles, rays, sea lions, penguins, sharks (white-tipped, black-tipped, hamerhead etc), tropical fish … to name only a few.

Some of my favourite underwater spots in Galapagos are Santa Fe, Devil's Crown (off Floreana Island) and Bartolome (diagonally opposite Sullivan Bay, Santiago Island). For scuba divers, the very northern islands of Darwin & Wolf are THE place to experience!

#4 Beaches of all Colours.

The beaches and associated sand colour is as varied as the daily sunsets. The various colours of the beaches in the Galapagos are striking – from talc-soft white sand (Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz Island), to deep olive-green (Floreana Island), black (Urbina Bay, Isabela Island), yellow-orange (Bartolome Island) and red (Rabida Island). This is not to leave out the organic beaches (e.g. Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island).

Beach sand has variable composition. A beach formed largely by deposition may be called organic since a major component of the beach is shell fragments. If the beach is white it is likely mainly quartz (silicon dioxide) , the second most common mineral in the continental crust or shell fragments. If black, it is composed of basalt.

Generally basalt beaches are the youngest. The sand of a red beach (e.g. Rabida Island) contains a lot of iron or oxidized cinder. If the beach is beige it likely contains many shell fragments. A green beach often contains much of the mineral olivine, commonly found in basalt, left after wave action washed away other, lighter minerals. The beaches at Punta Cormorant (Floreana Island) are green due to the olivine.

#5 The close of a day … the Golden Sunsets.

After an emotional and adventure-filled day hiking around peculiar creatures on the islands and swimming with playful sea lions, what better way to wrap up the day than to enjoy a golden sunset?

These five only give you a small taste of what awaits you in the Galapagos Islands. I would continue the list to ten, twenty or thirty … but it's best to let you go so you can start planning your visit!

 

Robin Slater is an adventurous British-Canadian social worker by trade who evolved into an Ecuador & Galapagos travel consultant by passion & experience.A fortunate husband to 1, grateful father of 2 & loyal friend to 3 (well, maybe more). Robin has lived in Ecuador, Belize, U.S.A., Canada, U.K., Spain. Currently he and his family live in Quito, Ecuador. He has British and Ecuadorian nationalities and speaks English, Spanish and French. A quote that sums him up: "If you want something you've never had before, you've got to do something you've never done before".

You can follow Robin and contact him at :

Travel Blog: http://www.sangay.com/ecuadorguide/
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