Galapagos Islands information

Every island in the Galapagos is different one from the other and all this is due to how they were formed. If the 4,600 million years of Earth´s history will be simulated in 24 hours, the Galapagos Islands had been formed in the last two minutes of that day. The 19 islands and 219 islets were created by successive volcanic eruptions over a hot spot located on the seafloor of the Nazca Plate. The first of them emerged in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about 5 million years ago. The islands are settled on the Nazca Plate and move about 5 centimeters a year eastward. That is why the oldest islands of the archipelago are far about 200 kilometers east from the youngest islands that are still above the hot spot.

Explore the Enchanted Islands

1) Isabela Island. 2) North Seymour Island. 3) South Plaza Island. 4) Santa Fe Island. 5) Santa cruz Island. 6) Bartolome Island. 7) Mosquera Island. 8) Santiago Island. 9) Rabida Island. 10) Floreana Island. 11) Genovesa Island. 12) Española Island. 13) San Cristobal Island. 14) Fernandina Island.

Get to know

WHY GALAPAGOS?

Because of the magical and pristine of the islands. As this is the home of the most fantastic land and marine species. Animals of features and behaviors unique, which shows what life was like before humans. But the Galapagos Islands are not only landscapes, colors, diversity of types of beaches, pristine ecosystems or amazing animals, but it has the magic to be considered a “living laboratory of evolution.”

It is considered the “living laboratory of the evolution” because the animals and plants that came from far away to populate these volcanic islands; they met a very different environmental conditions from their original homes.

The species had to adapt quickly to that change and evolve to survive and this is how new species were created. To be able to meet with these unique species, in their natural pristine environment, is a life experience with no equal. Galapagos is what it is, for being this “living laboratory of evolution” and for being one of the islands on the planet with most striking landscapes, pristine land and marine ecosystems, and a sanctuary of unique and captivating species.

Unique Wildlife

Adaptation, evolution, endemism and fearlessness are probably the concepts that best describe the only animals that complement the natural magic of the Galapagos Islands. The species that by chance were carried by ocean or air currents, managed to reach these isolated and remote islands, facing a very different and extreme environment.