Galapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean, Ecuador goes by the official name Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos. The island refers to volcanic archipelago islands which are scattered around the equator. These islands of the Pacific Ocean are some 525 miles from Ecuador. The islands and the surrounding waters collectively form a province of Ecuador, a marine reserve and a national park. The language spoken in the islands is predominantly Spanish. The islands and have a population of roughly 23,000. The islands are relatively young geologically and formed the basis of Charles Darwin’s Theories.
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador is a group of fifteen main and three smaller islands. The Volcan Ecuador on Isla and Volcan wolf are directly on the equator. The Espanola is considered to be on the southern hemisphere. The islands cover a total of 3,040 square miles spread over 17,000 square miles of ocean waters with the largest island- Isabela- covering almost half of the total land area. The diversity of plants and animals both land and water based are unrivalled. Visitors are served by the Baltra airport which has been operating as from 1986. Upon arrival at the airport, one is transported by bus to one of two docks, the first of which is situated in a Bay Waiting-boarding cruise boat. The second is a ferry dock that heads for the Island of Santa Cruz.
Galapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean, Equador boosts of the following animals: mocking bird, lava lizard, tortoises, marine iguanas, waved albatross, Nazca bobbies, Darwin finches, swallow tailed gulls, Galapagos hawks among others. Favourite activities include snorkelling and swimming.
The weather at the islands is heavily influenced by El Nino which results in barren oceans, but the currents are reinforced by La Nina which results in a vibrant marine life. The cold season falls between June and November whole the warm season falls in the months of December to May. In 2007, the islands made it to UNESCO’s list of World heritage in danger because of foreign species, over tourism and over fishing.
The Galapagos Islands are one of the 7 Natural Wonders of South America.