From Maya to Inca: Charles Darwin, Galápagos, Ecuador

Monday, 20 May 2013

Charles Darwin, Galápagos, Ecuador

Friday 11th May, I flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador, for a flight the following day to the Galapagos islands. I'm not here as a tourist in the sense that I'm lucky to have been here many times, so I won't be doing any luxurious cruises or island hopping. I'm just making the most of spending time with close friends and a family who has a special place in my heart. I'm staying with them in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island.

On Sunday, there were huge celebrations for Mother's day all over the town - Ecuadorians (and probably all over Latin America) do this really well - and I'll take this opportunity to wish my mum a happy Mother's day! On Monday, I took the children to the beach at the Charles Darwin Foundation after school. And the following day, I did something I have never done here despite having visited many times, and that is actually go to the Charles Darwin Foundation! The foundation is an international non-governmental, non-profit organisation financed by donations and founded in 1959 for conservation and scientific research purposes and also promotes awareness of the special environment of the Galapagos islands. The research station is really fascinating and provides a huge amount of information about the Galapagos islands and the conservation and development programme. Charles Darwin arrived here in 1835 after the Galapagos islands had been officially declared part of the republic of Ecuador in 1832. He developed his theory of evolution observing the characteristics of finches on each of the islands and noticed how they had evolved differently according to their specific habitat, into 13 different species of finches that differ specifically according to the size and shape of the beaks. Many plant and animal species on different islands are in danger of becoming extinct over the years as a result of the introduction of other species that are not endemic to the islands and the Charles Darwin foundation works with the Galapagos National Park service to try to prevent these species from becoming extinct, and also to eradicate introduced species that endanger the heritage of the islands. The Charles Darwin research station also contains a breeding centre for tortoises and land iguanas from specific islands, where they are bred and raised to a certain age and then are reintroduced into their original environment. For more information, look at: www.darwinfoundation.org

Guayaquil

one of the Galapagos islands!

Galapagos islands


beach at Charles Darwin research station

my favourite Galapagueñas

Española island tortoises

tribute to Lonesome George

2 comments:

Fred Issy31 May 2013 at 03:23
Coucou JO,
Amuse toi bien! Profites! Mais pense à moi et fais qq commentaires en Francais tout de même lol
Je t'embrasse, n'oublie pas de repasser par Paris me voir un de ces 4!!!!!
Fred
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Joanna1 June 2013 at 21:13
Merci Fred! He he mais je sais que ton anglais est super bien alors il n'y a pas de souci!!
Gros bisous
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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.