A Picture of Paradise in the Galapagos Islands

In 1835, Charles Darwin sailed around the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle, part of a mission to chart this volcanic archipelago located 600 miles west of Ecuador.

Struck by the variation between the animals of the different islands, the British scientist began forming his theory on evolution, which he described in his landmark 1859 book On the Origin of Species.

Today, more than 100,000 visitors trek to Galapagos every year to see the progeny of the creatures that inspired Darwin cavort in their natural habitat. Taking a cruise around the islands offers a trip like none other: The native animals are resplendent, exotic and indifferent to humans.

Natural Paradise

Galapagos, which consists of 13 major islands spread over 28,000 square miles of ocean, is a series of active volcanic peaks. Heavy, iron-rich basalt rock covers much of the landscape. Volcan Wolf, on the island of Isabela, is the highest point in the archipelago, at 5,600 feet above sea level.

While the Galapagos geology is striking, its wildlife is the main attraction. During my week's stay, my family and I saw 36 different species of birds, 40 types of fish and seven varieties of reptiles.

We watched Galapagos penguins watch us, blue-footed boobies perform a ritual mating dance, sea lions playfully blow air bubbles in our face while we snorkeled, bottlenose dolphins swim next to the bow of our ship, sally lightfoot crabs climb impossibly steep cliffs and male frigate birds balloon their crimson chests to attract mates. ...