
When to go to the Galapagos
If you ask someone for their travel bucket list, the Galapagos Islands are almost always near the top, and with good reason. The Galapagos are an exceedingly important group of islands, not only for their history with Darwin but for what they mean to our understanding of biology.
The opportunity to step back in time for a week and pretend that you are a National Geographic explorer lures many away from their comfortable living rooms to this remote archipelago off the Western Coast of South America. Here are a few reasons not only why you should visit, but why you should visit as soon as you can.
Island Trekking and Wildlife
Without a doubt, the wildlife is what draws most people to the Galapagos. The islands are home to some of the most unique animals in the world, many of which are endemic to the island group meaning that they don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Even more impressive than bearing witness to these strange quirks of evolution is witnessing the animals’ legendary lack of fear when it comes to humans. Before my visit to the islands, I really didn’t believe that this could be true. I thought it was probably an overstatement and that by now, surely, these animals had become skittish. I was shocked when on our first hike this famous Galapagos legend proved to be true. We walked within inches of blue footed boobies and their nests without attracting the slightest bit of interest from them.
The most unique land-based experience though was our afternoon spent with the migrating giant tortoises. We had seen the famous tortoises during a morning visit to the Darwin Research Institute, but that had not prepared me for witnessing them in the wild. The giant tortoises were midway through their annual migration from the highlands and we found them lounging about a large field. Walking into the migration area was like a trip through Jurassic Park. Throughout the farm were dozens of large boulders which, upon closer
inspection, were actually giant tortoises. There aren’t words to describe the feeling of awe and immediate smallness – to witness something that has been an annual occurrence for millennia. After a week in the islands, there were countless experiences like these, but what was most special to me was being able to see these animals as they were meant to be. Not locked up in a zoo or other artificial construction, these majestic creatures were living their lives as they always have, completely undisturbed by man. It was nice to see an area of the planet that we haven’t completely screwed up – yet.
Splashing Around
So much attention is paid to the land-based features of the Galapagos that most people don’t realize there is a rich underwater world to explore as well. Just as the isolation guaranteed survival of the land creatures, this same phenomenon protected the aquatic life throughout the eons. An additional geographic oddity enhancing the marine life here is the strange conversion of ocean currents, including the Humboldt current from Antarctica. This not only ensures a sometimes chilly water temperature, but also the presence of animals you wouldn’t expect, like penguins. The Galapagos penguin is the northern most living member of the species and isn’t exactly what one would expect. I blame Hollywood, but whenever I hear penguin my thoughts immediately race to the grand Emperor penguin, with its impressive size and distinctive features. The
Galapagos Penguin
Galapagos penguin is the dirty little brother of the Emperor. About a foot and a half in height, this speckled bird at first glance doesn’t look all that impressive, but the fact they survive so well in Galapagos is amazing in itself. Also amazing are the experiences one has with them while visiting. While there is a hard rule here of never, ever touching the animals, you can’t always avoid them touching you. Such was my experience one day while snorkeling near a colony of penguins. All of a sudden most of them jumped from their rocky roost into the water where all of their awkwardness disappeared as they darted about under water, looking for small fish to eat. There were dozens of them in the water with us and before I knew it, they started running into my snorkel facemask. They were determined to catch some minnows and apparently didn’t mind if we stood in the way. It was a surreal experience, floating in the water which was buzzing with the frantic feeding of dozens of penguins. You can’t experience this anywhere else in the world.
Penguins aren’t the only aquatic wonders though, in addition to some incredible snorkeling and catching sight of wonders like the white tipped shark and the impressive 2, 200 pound Mola Mola, there are of course the sea lions. Not to be confused with seals, the Galapagos sea lions are found on almost every island and in the nearby waters. Our on-land encounters with them were cute, there really is no other word to describe them. They look and act like puppies and it is REALLY hard to resist the urge to run up and give them all a big hug. If I thought they were playful on land though, once in the water it’s an entirely different ballgame.
As was the case with the penguins, I wasn’t expecting a sea lion encounter. We were swimming along and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a young sea lion pup coming up for a closer look. He was definitely curious and spent a long time following us. Then, and there was no mistaking this, he started to play with us. He would do a simple underwater maneuver and then wait for us to copy him. Once we did, he would then come up with a more difficult acrobatic feat for us to mimic, and so on. We ran into new sea lion friends at almost every snorkeling stop and by the end of the week we all felt like sea lion pros.
How to light a charcoal grill?? How to fix a zipper? Tricks to do when kissing? What does low potassium mean? How many calories should i eat a day to lose weight? What does appendicitis pain feel like? What are russian oligarchs meaning? What is the meaning of business cycle? How to get robux for free 2021?? How to peel an onion?? How to tie a toga? How to teach your dog to do helpful tricks? Do you minus your liability when you pay tips or exp them?? What does it mean when you see 1010? How to get rid of herpes on lip? How to change macbook name?? How to satisfy a woman in bed tips in hindi? How to play with friends elden ring? How to listen to podcasts?? How do the ideas included in “cool eye tricks” interact with one another?? What baking can do meaning? What is the meaning of environmentalist? What are the best streaming services? How to get grease out of clothing? What is forensic science? What are the symptoms of ptsd? How to make candy apples?? How to turn off switch? Tips for getting the best deal from frontier when my contract expires? How to calculate irr? How to silence text notifications on iphone?? What is the meaning of erse? What does indica mean? What does nib stand for? How to find atomic mass?? Movie where girl tricks guy and blows up his mother's workplace? What does makjang meaning? What does it mean when your head hurts? What does elephant mean? What does rational mean? Tips on how to stay warm in the winter? How to lose 5 pounds in a day?? What does tbh mean? What channel are the bucks on tonight? What does idolatry mean? How many people have died doing high climb tricks? How to unblock websites on school chromebook?? What does angel number 666 mean? What does ketanji mean? What does sugar daddy mean? How to use ashes of war? What time does super bowl start? How to make stuffed shells? What size are license plate screws? How to train your dragon the nine realms? How to apply tips on toenails? What are the 4 types of ocd? How to roast chickpeas?? What does they them mean? Tips on how to do better in college? How to buy tips? How to use cnd tips? How to make fried pickles in air fryer? How much tips should i give hairdresser? What backseating meaning? How to read a ruler in inches? What days does ups deliver? How to make baked sweet potatoes? What is beyonce's net worth? How to evolve haunter legends arceus?? Sixers what does ben simmons suspension mean? Tricks for when you can't sleep? How to use cricut transfer tape?? How to cite apa?? How to reduce sewer bill? How to cut chicken wings? How to screenshot on samsung? What kind of icing to use with russian tips? How long does tips certification last for? What is the meaning of 🍆 🍑? How to get rid of under the skin pimples? What you been doing meaning? Tips on how to play ranged dps? What is the 4th of july meaning? What does alternator do? What does a star mean on a dollar bill? How to relieve the pressure swollen finger tips? What does possession mean? Where to buy long q-tips? Asian trap tricks guy who goes with it? How to cook london broil? What does mistletoe look like? How to crate train a dog?? What is the meaning of peaky blinders? How to copy and paste with keyboard? What are the southern states? What is meaning of significant? Htips and tricks on how to beat cry on metal gear solid four? How do tips work on uber eats? Skate tricks how to? Finger tips burning sensation when touching something? How many hat tricks has patrick kane? Gta online tricks tips how to stay invisible? What does ambience mean? What does dialectic mean? What time does stranger things take place? How to draw a teddy bear? How to change airpod pro rubber tips? How to download pictures from iphone to computer? How to clean tarnished silver?? How to reduce body fat?? What is this quintessence of dust meaning? What are some of the tricks that people make animal in circus do? What is the meaning of the snake flag? How to distribute tips fairly? How to cook beef ribs in the oven? 8 tricks car dealerships use and how to get past them? How to do gel nails without tips? What does ig mean on snapchat? How to make a splash potion of weakness?? How to do your eyebrows? What does cs stand for? What are kegals? How to treat broken blood vessel in eye? How long does it take for botox to work?? Romance writers of america new author tips why series? What does lucrative mean? What does finna mean? How to delete a yahoo email account? What are the google tricks? What are number names? What is title 9? What is the meaning of the word avatar? How to get rid of clover in lawn?? How to get rid of upper belly fat?? What does as the crow flies mean? What does a red light camera look like? How am i supposed to live without you? How to recycle? What does 1355 tips mean on a fake tree? What does 99 percentile mean? Tips on how to break down a new languge? What does jamie mean? What is the meaning of the song redbone? When we fall apart meaning? What does car title look like? What does ratio mean on tiktok? How are you meaning in english answer? Tricks on how to make more money being a webcam model? How long to cook beef tips on george foreman grill? How to find marginal product?? How to watch venom?? What does monetary mean? What is the meaning of gey? Resume tips for someone who hasn't worked in a while? What is a1c levels? What is the meaning of selichot? How to find marginal cost?? Tips when transferring form uvu to byu? What is the meaning of physical appearance? What does orange roses mean? What does headass mean? What does dialog mean? How to program firestick remote?? What is hemp oil? How to see what motherboard i have?? What does a star on a dollar bill mean? How tips work in payroll? What does bane of arthropods do? How to treat a burn on hand from hot pan? How to upgrade oppressor mk2?? What is the meaning of flying the flag upside down? What does rdh mean? What does rico charges mean? What is the meaning of arthropods? What does parasocial mean? What does low latency mean? What is the meaning of froward? Tricks to cooling off when you don't have ac? What does sacroiliac joint pain feel like? How to make $100 a day?? What is the meaning of balderdash? What time does fedex start delivering? How to write a poem? How to cite a video in apa? How to change a shower head? How to make a dress?? How much does it cost to rent a dumpster? How to find the cheapest flights?? What is the meaning of nub? Minecraft how to move blazes to the overworld tips.? What does sexual harassment mean? How much does grubhub make with tips? What are apple cider vinegar pills good for? What does so mean? Why did the northern & southern tips of africa support dense populations? How to grill chicken legs?? Criss angel says how he does his tricks? What does precepts mean? How to get hair dye off sink?? What does falsifiable mean? Nails curve down at tips how to cut them? How to get a smaller nose?? How to do rollerblading tricks? What is g.o.a.t meaning? How to do cool easy skateboard tricks? What is happening august 11 2021? What does nuclear waste look like? Tips to save money when moving abroad? How to be pro in chess tips? How to see if you have a warrant?? Why are the tips of my garlic starting to yellow? How long to air fry pork chops? What does a yellow door mean? How to air drop?? How the eyes tricks itself? What does pi mean? How to extract pages from pdf? How to get nail tips to stay on practice hand? How to record cash tips in quickbooks payroll? What are your top 5 tips for navigating the cpt code book?? What does low oxygen levels mean? How to make paneer? Why do they call it turning tricks? How to become?? How to record phone calls on android? How to stop a dog from eating poop?? What does reposting on tiktok do? What is the meaning of lines of symmetry? How do tips protect against inflation? Which connective tissue coats tips of bones? What does trippy mean? How to start a non profit organization? What are emblems? Hmasturbaiting tips for men how to cum hands free? What does vice mean? What does ebony mean? How to get student loans?? What are the factors of 7? How to get tips as a performer? Killing room how to do tricks? What does maga country mean? What does the name kevin mean? What does lead time mean? What is queen consort? What does efficient mean? How to get blood out of fabric?? How to screen print at home? What does income mean? What are leg lifts? How to polish shoes?? What does payroll mean? What time does game of thrones come on tonight? How to find mean median and mode? When in the course of human events it becomes necessary meaning? How to get rid of dandruff fast?? How to replace a kitchen faucet? How many hat tricks does de bruyne have? How to pull up carpet? Why i peling the tips of my fingernails? What are dates good for? What meat for beef tips? Tricks to know what soeone thinks of you? How to remove sink drain?? How to save a youtube video?? What does the chinese dragon mean? Love grows where my rosemary goes meaning?RELATED VIDEO


