The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands
straddling the equator in the Pacific Ocean some 500 miles from the Ecuador
coast and are a part of Ecuador.
The islands were first made famous by Charles Darwin when,
whilst voyaging on the “Beagle” he visited the islands and it was this visit
that inspired him to write “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural
Selection”. It was not necessarily the
quantity of different indigenous species that he found on the islands, more the
ease in which they were able to be studied, as if having no concern about a
human presence.
Since that time Galapagos
Islands trips have become increasingly popular especially amongst research
groups, professional and amateur. If your flight has landed in Quito, you can take buses en Ecuador to everywhere on the mainland of Ecuador, but not these islands. To get to these islands, you should take a flight because getting their by boat can take a lot of time.
Trips to Galapagos
are not cheap and so you should plan accordingly. If you are planning to travel on a budget, you can do so as far as, and including Quito but you will then
have to fly to the islands as even the freight ships are prohibited from
carrying passengers. Once there, there are cheaper cruises that you can take
around the islands but even the “cheap” ones can be pricey. A cheaper option
can be to stay at a hostel on one of the islands and then take day trips to
others. This may not allow you to see the outer islands but each particular
island may be ideal for seeing different creatures, check before you leave, as
the ones you are interested in may be on the near ones anyway, or stay on an
island that best suits your intentions.
Where to
Stay for Galapagos Islands Trips
To make the best of your holiday and maintain that budget,
it is sometimes necessary to book some things in advance. Perhaps Galapagos trips may be one of those
times or at least for the part when you are actually on the islands.
If there is something in particular you would like to see on
the islands, Giant Tortoise, Penguins or Sea Lions find out if they are on all
the islands or just certain ones. Then look for a hostel on an island best suited
to your needs. The hostels are more expensive than what you are used to on the
mainland but there again, you are in the middle of the ocean.