Paradise Found A Guide to Visiting the Galápagos
(Rebecca Timmons)
W
ait, people actually live on the Galápagos Islands? Yes, yes they do. Located about 600 miles off the western coast of Ecuador, the island group of the Galápagos is home to several thousand people. Of the thirteen major islands, five are inhabited by Ecuadorians, most of whom live on the islands of Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal. Puerto Ayora, the largest city on Santa Cruz, is a thriving tourist’s paradise complete with gift shops, restaurants, and nearby
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sightseeing. Many tourists are attracted to these tropical islands, situated less than one degree south of the equator, for their exotic plant and animal life and their breathtaking beaches. It’s not every day that you get to see a five-hundred-pound tortoise or set foot on a beautiful, uninhabited island. Because traveling to the islands can be pricey, plan on staying for a week or longer in order to get the most out of the tropical experience. The following are a few of the most popular sites to help you plan your getaway.
Charles Darwin Research Station
When most people picture the Galápagos Islands, they think of huge land tortoises and iguanas. The place to see these incredible animals is the Charles Darwin Research Station. The research station has a hatchery for tortoises, so you can see baby tortoises grow into the enormous ones you’ve always imagined. Near the tortoise hatchery, you can learn about Charles Darwin’s famous finch find and see large land iguanas.
