History of the Galapagos Islands
Explore how millions of years of evolution shaped this World Heritage Site and inspired Darwin's Origin of Species.
From sitting on a beach face-to-face with non-flinching sea lion pups to wandering through lush fields of giant land tortoises, a trip to the Galapagos Islands is one of the most magical travel experiences, no matter your age.
While sailing around the Galapagos archipelago is a unique experience in itself, there are a number of additional exclusive experiences that we can arrange for ocean-bound voyagers. Savour a private alfresco sunset dinner as the vessel navigates past silhouetted islands, partake in chocolate-tasting and ceviche-making classes with on-board chefs, or privately charter a romantic vessel to celebrate an anniversary.
Set nearly 1,000 kilometres off the mainland, this is the only place in the world where zoom lenses are definitely not required to capture stunning wildlife portraits.
Since both the land and marine creatures that inhabit the Galapagos Islands are utterly fearless, a journey around the landmasses brings voyagers face-to-face with their thousands-strong population of curious bubble-blowing sea lions, salt-spitting iguanas, clumsy blue-footed boobies, flightless cormorants, monogamous waved albatrosses and boisterous Galapagos penguins.
A cruise is hard to beat if you want to make the most of every moment in the Galapagos. You get to experience the huge variety of terrain and the richness of flora and fauna on each of the islands, whilst enjoying the added advantage of sleeping whilst you travel. A typical cruise lasts for eight days, but we can always arrange for you to stay longer.
Whilst our Galapagos holiday experts often recommend a cruise, a growing number of visitors never set foot on a live-aboard boat as the choice of lodges and camps in the Galapagos is now at an all-time high. To quote Spike Milligan, “a sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree” – so if you want to explore the Galapagos but don’t have the sea legs for a cruise, speak to our experts. They know the best ‘trees’ under which to sit in the Galapagos or, for the more active, can arrange walking tours on volcanic islands or birding excursions into the islands’ interiors.
Observe giant tortoises grazing in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, marvel at comical blue-footed boobies during their courtship dances, photograph marine iguanas diving into the sea off Isabela Island and snorkel with playful sea lions from the beach on San Cristobal Island. We can also arrange an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the Galapagos Science Centre, where it is possible to interact with scientists and chat about their important projects and community awareness programmes.
A supremely family-friendly destination, the Galapagos Islands is the perfect place to get the family up close to a host of creatures that have no fear of humans!
A passion for travel runs right through every one of our experts - meaning they're always ready with first-hand insight about their specialist countries.
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The Ecuadorian authorities charge a national park fee of $100 for a two-week trip to the Galapagos. Tourism needs to pay a price that is commensurate with the demands it makes on infrastructure and natural resources; $100 doesn’t come close. Steppes Travel will continue to push the authorities for an increase in fees to be used to help combat the growing threats to the Galapagos Islands but in the interim, we will make a donation of $100 to GCT for every client that travels to the Galapagos islands. This will of course be in addition to the $100 Galapagos National Park fee included in the cost of your holiday and will give you an annual membership to GCT. Read our blog on the importance of paying a fair price for nature.
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