Galapagos Islands: A Little World Within Itself

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When Charles Darwin first saw the Galapagos Islands he was not impressed – he said that “nothing could be less inviting than the first appearance”. But later he recognised the unique nature of these islands, which he called “a little world within itself”. They set him thinking about how animals change and ultimately inspired his theory of evolution. Sarah Darwin follows in the footsteps of her great, great grandfather in this “little world within itself” to see how the Galapagos islands themselves have evolved and changed since he visited in 1835. Far from being the uninhabited wilderness of Darwin’s writings and wildlife documentaries, today the Galapagos now receives over 200,000 visitors a year who come to swim with sea lions, or go scuba diving with the hammer-head sharks and the most northerly penguins in the world. Four of the islands of the archipelago are also home to some 30,000 people. Can a balance be found between the demands of conservation and sustainable development? (Photo: A Galapagos tortoise. Credit: Ruth Evans)