The History of the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are technically a part of the country of Ecuador. They are an archipelago consisting of 126 different features. Located around 600 miles west of Ecuador in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they are a prime travel destination. They boast not only beautiful scenery and fun activities, but an interesting history as well. As with any island in the middle of an ocean, the story of how the current inhabitants arrived there is fairly interesting. Here is a brief overview of the history of the Galapagos Islands.

Legend states that the Inca Indians first discovered the Galapagos Islands in the 15th century, but the legend cannot be verified. They had no written language, and left no ruins to be discovered. In the 16th century the Spanish had created a shipping route for goods that ran along the Pacific coast of Ecuador. Inca gold was being shipped up the coast to Panama where it was unloaded onto mules for the journey across the Isthmus. While the journey persisted along the coast of Panama, they discovered the Galapagos Islands. While the Spanish were shipping gold along the Pacific Ocean they ran into buccaneers, or pirates, and had many of their Spanish ships raided by the time they reached their destination. They had soon realized the so-called pirates were taking their goods and hiding them in a chain of islands near Ecuador. They found these islands, and discovered the Galapagos.

The human history of the Galapagos Islands is relatively recent. It dates back a few centuries when Spanish ships and pirates found food and shelter in the islands. Later, whalers and colonists made their homes along the shores. They settled there for many years during the 1800s. The very famous naturalist Charles Darwin went to the islands in 1835. He stayed for a whole five weeks and studied the islands and gained knowledge about them and the wildlife that resides in the Galapagos. His stay had a profound affect on his thinking. His stay in the Galapagos really got him thinking about how genetics work and inspired him to come up with the theory of natural selection. After his stay in the islands, he wrote “The Origin of Species”, a book that took the scientific world by storm in 1859.

In 1959, the Ecuadorian government set aside 90% of the Galapagos Islands as a national park. The park is open to any visitors who have an interest in coming. It first began as an open island to visit, and then later acquired a tours, tour guides, gift shops, hotels, tourist activities, among other things. Now the Galapagos Islands are a great place to visit with stations to learn even more of the Galapagos history.