The Galápagos: then and now

Wrapped in a duvet of dawn clouds, the Pacific Ocean became a yawning abyss as islands sank into the horizon.

Heavy fog and strong currents led early navigators to nickname the Galápagos archipelago “Islas Encantadas” (the enchanted islands) – a fitting name for a place so wildly remote it’s hard to believe it exists.

Created by volcanic uprisings five million years ago, this cluster of far-flung islands straddling the equator has become a sanctuary for dozens of endemic species. More than 500 years later, the wildlife utopia remains alluringly enigmatic; its ethereal beauty undiminished. 

Free to evolve without interruption, each land mass has become a unique microcosm, allowing species to exploit a new and different ecological niche, an open-air laboratory for proving ground-breaking theories of natural selection.

There are finches with a toolbox of beaks used for breaking open seeds or drawing blood and warblers that sing a different song to their siblings 27 miles away. For centuries creatures have lived harmoniously, away from natural predators.