Galapagos - Named After Tortoises

Galapagos - Named After Tortoises

Also Known As Enchanted Islands

Any Galapagos Cruise Ship travel abounds in the richness of both science and history.  Once known as the “The Enchanted Islands”, The Galapagos were later named “Isolas de Galapagos” or “Islands of the Tortoises”, so named in the 1500’s when sailors told stories of the many turtles populating the archipelago.  With the name officially contributed to mapmaker Abraham Ortelius by 1570, the name stuck and they have been known regionally as the Galapagos Islands ever since.

Traveling on a Galapagos cruise ship reveals much more than tortoises, of course.  Being volcanically formed, their moon-like landscape provided many crevices, caves, and vegetation that offered great hiding places for pirates after looting Spanish ships and the South American coast during the 17th century.  Pirates had additional cover since fog shrouded the islands at certain times as well.

By the 1800’s there was the promise of marine industry as whalers and sealers focused on the archipelago’s potential as a Pacific sea-faring center.  In fact, the ‘temporary’ postal outlet, consisting of a wooden barrel on Floreana, exists to this day.  Tourists from any Galapagos cruise ship can even leave mail there for pick-up.  With the first human settler, Patrick Watkins, remaining on the islands for several decades, in 1832 Ecuador laid claim to the region by establishing a permanent settlement and annexing the territory.

Small farms on Floreana and Santa Cruz began growing vegetables and fruit, selling to merchant and whaling ships in the Pacific region.  In just a few short years the Galapagos Islands became better known.  It wasn’t until Charles Darwin’s famous visit in 1835 and his ultimate scientific research resulting in the Theory of Evolution, that the archipelago grew in stature and prominence.

Prior to Darwin’s research, the scientific world viewed life forms as immutable and absolute.  With Darwin’s study, however, all that changed as he witnessed and documented the principle of species adapting over time such as food sources and other environmental factors.

And so it remains to this day that travelers enjoy the abundant wildlife, vegetation, and topography that captivated adventurers for the last several centuries.  As a National Park Service managed by Ecuador, the archipelago lands are protected with research continuing at Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island to this day.  Most visitors traveling by Galapagos cruise ship enjoy both the Interpretation Center and Darwin Station when on the trip of a lifetime to a one-of-a-kind destination on the planet.