The Galapagos Islands - Alexandra Shannon

Over spring break I had the incredible opportunity to visit the Ecuadorian highlands and Galapagos Islands with 19 other students from NCSU. Our trip started in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito and then took us north to the cloud forests of Mindo. From Mindo we left for the islands and spent a total of 6 days there before returning to the states.

The Galapagos Islands are well known today greatly because of Charles Darwin and his adventures on the Beagle. Darwin spent weeks on different islands in the archipelago observing the unique species that inhabit the islands. From his research he published the very controversial (for its time) and well known book “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.”

Today, the Galapagos is home to a biological marine reserve and a national park. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. All of these factors make it a very special and popular place for tourism. I visited 3 of the 15 major islands during my stay including Isabela, Fernandina and North Seymour. During my time there my group and I visited the national park (where we meet the infamous giant tortoise Lonesome George), snorkeled on a few different occasions, hiked various trails and visited different farming communities and nature reserves, etc. I was very fortunate to see a lot of the endemic wildlife that inhabits the islands which I will include pictures of below.


Visiting the turtles in the National Park

Giant Tortoise (top) Galapagos Sea Lion & Swallow Tailed Gull (bottom)

Blue Footed Booby (top) Land Iguana (bottom)