ECUADOR- The Galápagos Islands

Pinch me! Here I am in the Galápagos Islands! We are staying on Santa Cruz, a larger island and are taking boat cruises to other islands- Seymour and Plaza. It is now rainy season so we have some rain.

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, 563 miles west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.

The Galápagos Islands and their surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of slightly over 25,000.

The islands are famed for their vast number of endemic species (only found here) and were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

Notice the colors of the water:

Bird caught in flight around boat: