Galapagos Day 1: Santa Cruz

A 105ft yacht named after the vessel in which Charles Darwin visited these Galapagos Islands in 1835 will be our home for a week. The Beagle has space for a guide, five-man local crew and up to 14 guests. There are 13 of us and our 11 travelling companions include Michael from LA, Eliran from Israel and Henrik from Sweden. The rest, all from the UK are a honeymoon couple, Emma & Jamie, Rob and Judy with their two children, Grace & Joe, and Roger & Chris.  The itinerary takes us around the south and east of the Enchanted Islands - an adventure playground for wildlife.

The Beagle

These isolated islands were created by volcanic activity and have never been connected to the mainland. The isolation is completed by the location which is 600 miles off the Ecuadorian coast into the Pacific where the next landfall going west is another 3400 miles. The Islands have developed without man nor any other land mammal and the result is a collection of unique species that don't suffer from predators. Many of the bird and animal species have almost zero sense of self-preservation and act with complete indifference when approached by humans. You can just walk right up to them and they won't move. It's extraordinary.

The islands each have their own unique environments, flora and fauna. Our guide, Daniel is a native of these parts and shows us marine life on snorkeling trips between the island visits. We began on Santa Cruz island and spent the first afternoon on shore at the Darwin Research Station. We were soon snapping away indiscriminately at an assortment of land based iguanas, lizards and crabs.

The yellow warbler

We also saw bird life - yellow warblers, mockingbirds and three of the thirteen varieties of finch that played a part in the conclusions that Darwin described in his 1859 book on the origin of species through natural selection.  Studies have shown how from a single ancestor these finches have, through natural selection of the most successful features, developed into the thirteen different species we see today.  This was the aperitif before seeing the giant tortoises live in a reserve to protect them and give them a chance to breed. The star attraction is Lonesome George who is the last of his species. Attempts are being made to restart the dynasty by bringing him new girlfriends from species that are as close to his as possible but so far without success. No one is sure how old these huge reptiles get but there is a record of one reaching the grand old age of 176.