Signature Luxury Travel & Style
EVOLUTION ON SHOW
To enter this land of Darwinian acclaim is to experience life inside a natural museum that lives, breathes and forever astounds.
Atop the equator, 1000 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador, sits an archipelago of 230 islands, islets and towering rocky peaks that ensnares travellers, naturalists and scientific minds like no other. Its vegetation is surprisingly rough and sparse, the dormant remnants of fairly recent seismic activity; its waters a brilliant icy blue.
This is the Galápagos, the home of Charles Darwin’s finches (which, back in the 1830s, were the light bulb moment in developing the theory of natural selection) alongside a diverse range of species almost unfathomable for such a young oceanic island group. Harmoniously populating the land are Galápagos mockingbirds, penguins, giant tortoises, iguanas and flightless cormorants, while in the sea of the Galápagos Marine Reserve divers discover a more varied experience than at any other site in the world. Indeed, alongside this plethora of wildlife, the human population of just over 25,000 seems miniscule.
The Galápagos National Park, one of the first to make the UNESCO World Heritage List back in 1978, covers 97 per cent of the islands, and the few humans that do make their home in the remaining three per cent have conservation at the core of their constitution. However, despite efforts such as limiting annual tourism and instigating a $100 entry fee to the national park, over time and with the increase of tourism, more than 526 invertebrates, 750 plants and 29 species of vertebrates have been introduced, proving it is hard for man to keep a natural equilibrium untarnished.
Shore explorers
These shores retain incredible intrigue, and one of the most popular ways to tour the islands’ treasures is via boat. You can sail each day from island to island, experiencing each from every vantage point. Having spent over 40 years traversing the region, Lindblad Expeditions has its itineraries finessed to engage all that embark. Aboard the 96-guest National Geographic
Endeavour or 48-guest National Geographic Islander you adventure above, beside and below the sea with guided hikes, snorkelling and kayaking, while on board
enjoying a relaxed ambience, fresh cuisine, fascinating guest speakers and 24-hour service catering for your every whim. The close of each day becomes an equally memorable time of rest and excess, housed safely upon the blues of this lauded wilderness.
Through the lens
German-born Michael Poliza has a natural gift for spying the world’s beauty. Over the past 10 years he has finessed his photographic skills through journeys into some of the globe’s most dramatic landscapes, from Africa to the Galápagos and beyond. The manner in which he notes each organism and colourful life form has garnered esteem and attention, and now creatively-minded adventure lovers can follow in his footsteps. Poliza runs tailor-made and pre-organised safari tours – both with cameras at the ready – opening up Earth’s wonders through his eyes.