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TOURISM
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Arrival:
one has to arrange a tour beforehand with a tourism company.
Most tours start with one’s arrival on plane to the island
of San Cristóbal, but Baltra also has an airport. From
there one usually takes a cruiser that goes from island to island,
with experienced guides to show one around, make sure the park’s
rules and regulations are kept and teach the tourists to help
in the conservation of the islands.
- Park's
Rules and Regulations:
1)
No animal is to be disturbed and no plant or rock touched or
removed.
2)
No foreign material is to be transported to the islands or from
one island to another.
3)
Do not take any food to the uninhabited islands. Smoking is
prohibited in the Islands.
4) The animals are not to be touched, fed, petted or approached
too closely.
5)
It is absolutely forbidden to frighten or chase any living creature
from its nest or resting place.
6)
While diving or snorkeling, don't hurt any marine creature.
7)
Waste products of all kinds must be taken away from the islands.
8)
Do not buy souvenirs of objects made from plants or animals
of the Islands such as the shells of the Galapagos tortoises
or block coral.
9)
Do not paint names or graffiti on rocks.
10) All
groups visiting the National Park must be accompanied by a licensed
guide.
11)
Follow the marked trails at all times and do not walk out of
their limits.
- Conservation
efforts: the Galapagos National Park Service (Parque
Nacional Galapagos) is the governmental agency responsible for
the management and protection of the Park. Conservation projects
include the protection of endangered populations of native animals,
the eradication and control of introduced species (particularly
goats, feral dogs, cats, pigs, and guava plants) and the management
of recreation and tourism by establishing and maintaining nature
trails. The Charles Darwin Research Station (Estacion
Cientifica Charles Darwin) is an international, non-profit organization
that acts in scientific advisory capacity for the Park Service
and conducts conservation-oriented research with the help of
scientists and students from Ecuador and around the world. It
also helps to channel funds for conservation in the islands.
The
Darwin Station and the Park Service have been working together
for over twenty years for the protection and wise management
of Galapagos. For example, they have been successful in saving
three species of land iguanas from extinction, and raising
several hundred animals in the Darwin Station and returning
them to their native islands. Eight giant tortoise subspecies
were also saved, of which about 1,000 tortoises have already
been repatriated. Slowly, goats have been eliminated from several
of the smaller islands, wild dogs from Isabela and rats from
Bartolome. The survival of the clark-rumped (Hawaiian) petrel,
once on the verge of extinction, now looks promising.
One
of the most successful joint ventures is the Naturalist Guide
program. Tourists cannot legally go anywhere in the designated
National Park area without being escorted by a Licensed Guide.
Each guide must complete one of two rigorous training program
(Naturalist I, II or III) after which they are granted a license
valid for 3 years.
- Diving:
a snorkeling or diving opportunity in Galapagos should not be
missed. Here you'll find a bizarre mixture of cold and warm
water species. The main concentration of fish species occurs
between the surface and 60 feet. Snorkelers should be good swimmers
and know basic snorkeling techniques. Divers must be experienced
and frequent divers. Some sites may have strong currents. Water
temperatures will be cooler July to November when a wet suit
would be practical. Sharks are common in Galapagos; however,
there is no record of a shark attack on a human being in Galapagos
waters. Here are some or the more popular dive sites in Galapagos:
- Cousins
rock: to the North of Bartolome, Cousins is an interesting
wall dive. Here one can see huge moray eels, an occasional school
of sharks and invertebrates. Visibility is just fair most of
the year.
- Gordon
rocks: the best dive site in the Central Islands. It is
a tough dive with heavy currents, large swells and deep water.
One can find Hammerhead sharks, Amberjacks and other large fish.
- Guy
Fawkes Rocks: this is an easy, low current dive. Small reef
fish abound. The walls are covered with block coral and it's
a well worth it site for the multi-colored sponges, corals and
other invertebrates.
- Roca
Redonda: located north of Isabela, Roca Redonda is home
to big sharks and big groupers. There are areas with spewing
gas bubbles from the floor.
- Wolf
and Darwin: most experienced divers will agree, this is
one of the best diving sites in the world. Sightings of the
whale shark are common here. There are no land visitor sites
here, just serious diving. At the "Northern Arch" at Darwin,
the northernmost Island, hammerhead sharks are not uncommon
nor are bottlenose dolphins. At Wolf, three anchorages are possible;
the pinnacle, the reef and the south islet channel. The reef
contains many warm water varieties of fish found nowhere else
in the Islands and is the most consistent place to see hammerheads.
- Darwin
in Galapagos: on September 15, 1835, the visitor that gave
fame to the Galapagos, Charles Darwin, arrived aboard the HMS
Beagle, commanded by Captain Robert FitzRoy. The Beagle spent
just five weeks in the archipelago, during which time the 26-year
old naturalist was able to visit four of the principal islands
— San Cristóbal (Chatam), Floreana (Charles), Isabela
(Albermarle) and Santiago (James). He spent 19 days on land,
collecting and observing the flora and fauna of this "living
laboratory of evolution," a term often used to describe the
islands. What he meant by this was that the isolation, confined
habitats, and the comparatively small number of species combine
to give the observer a clear view of the adaptive processes
— called "adaptive radiation."
The
most famous example is the Galapagos finch, now called Darwin's
finches. All belong to the same original population, yet
they were distinctive by the beak structure that was purposeful
and adaptive. Darwin's genius was in understanding that the
variations he observed were nonrandom positive adaptations to
the environment that could somehow be passed on through inheritance.
Fifty years later, he published his work, Origin of Species,
by Means of Natural Selection, expounding his theory
of evolution — a scientific revolution contradicting
religious beliefs prevalent at the time
1485 -
The first visitors were sailors of the Chimu culture from northern
Peru during the rule of the great Inca, Tupac Yupanqui.
1535 - The official discovery of Galapagos, on March 10th, by
Fray Tomas cle Berlanga, a Spanish Bishop, aboard a ship pushed
off course by ocean currents while sailing from Panama to Peru.
1570 - The Galapagos Islands appear for the first time on a
world map. They are called "Insulae de los Galopegos.'
1593 -1710 - Use of the Galapagos by pirates as refuge and supply
base for water and meat (particularly the giant tortoises) and
introducing goats and dogs.
1793 -1870 Period of whale exploitation in the Islands threatening
populations of tortoises, fur seals and whales.
1793 - Erection of the post office barrel on Floreana to facilitate
delivery to the United States and Europe.
1800 -1900 - The exploitation of fur seals by North Americans
and Europeans almost causing their extinction.
1832 - Ecuador officially claims Galapagos calling it "Archipelago
del Ecuador." Islands are given their Spanish names.
1835 - Visit of the H.M.S. Beagle to Galapagos for five weeks,
from September 15 to October 20. During this period, Charles
Darwin visited San Cristobal, Santiago, Floreana and Isabela
Islands. The Captain, Robert Fitzroy, drew up accurate navigation
charts.
1841 - U.S. writer Herman Melville visits Galapagos. He later
wrote an articulate account of his experience in "Las Encantaclas."
1859 - Publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species
which brought recognition to Galapagos as natural laboratory
for evolution.
1892 - Galapagos is officially named "Archipelago cle Colon"
in honor of Christopher Colombus's discovery of America 400
years previously.
1905 - 1906 - Scientists from the California Academy of Science
make extensive collections and studies of the islands.
1923 - Visit by American William Beebe, whose book Galaipagos
World's End, gave worldwide fame to the Islands.
1926 - Group of Norwegians arrive in Galapagos. Some remain
on Santa Cruz today farming in the highlands.
1934 - First legislation to protect Galapagos fauna is passed.
Mysterious events surround the disappearance of the Baroness
Van Wagner and a companion, and the deaths of others on Floreana,
1941- 1948 - Construction and occupation of an air base on Baltra
by the U.S. and the extinction of land iguanas on that island.
1959 - On July 4th, the government declares all areas of Galapagos
as National Park except for the colonized areas. The Charles
Darwin Foundation is founded in Brussels on July 23rd. Its first
President is Victor Von Staelen.
1964 - The Darwin Station is inaugurated in the presence of
many national and international authorities.
1968 - Administration of the Galapagos National Park Service
begins.
1969 - Large scale tourism begins in Galapagos with the arrival
of the LINA-A, a ship carrying 58 passengers.
1971 - Lonesome George is found on Pinta Island, the last of
his breed.
1972 - Japanese fishing ships capture hundreds of sea turtles.
1974 - The first master plan for the protection and management
of the Galapagos National Park is published.
1978 - The Islands are declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO
underlining its universal value for mankind.
1986 - The Galapagos Marine Resources Reserve is signed into
law by President Leon Febres Cordero to protect the waters 15
miles offshore.
1992 - A new revised, long-term master plan for the development
and management of the CDRS, which will provide guidelines for
the Station's programs and gradual growth to its full potential.
1994 - A fire in Isabela Island causes damage to 20,000 square
miles near Volcano Sierra Negro. 70-80 tortoises are slaughtered
by fisherman in protest of the governments indecision to lift
a ban on commercialized fishing.
1995 - Isabela threatened by introduced plants and animals and
overgrazing by goats.
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