There are no words that can describe the reasons why to visit to
the Galapagos Islands, where animals
appear unafraid of people like in Paradise. But don't think,
that they are not concerned. Parenting animals are most certainly
alarmed for their young when you get too close, so be considerate
and keep a respectful distance. Always obey the instructions
of your guide.
The
Galapagos Islands are an extremely young geological formation
with high geological activity, particularly volcanism and earthquakes.
The 1,476 m high Fernandina had an eruption in 2009; while other
volcanoes on Galapagos have been active in historical times,
such as Cerro Azul, Marchena, Pinta, Santiago, Sierra Negra
and Wolf, which are all
points of interest of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.
Dear visitor, our website gives you info about
our
National Parks Tours,
our
Galapagos programs, the
Cuyabeno Loop,
as well as our
Cuyabeno and Cofan Lodges in the Amazon.
For those who want to combine the
Exuberant Nature of Ecuador with the Famous culture of Peru, we even have a
7
days Highlights of Peru extension! Our website
gives you the best information on the internet, because we are the only tour
operator run by professional biologists. Take a look:
OUR PARKS AND TRIBES ECO TOURS
(Scroll down for the full description of the current page)
STANDARD COFAN LODGE TOUR
Start your Cuyabeno journey on
Ecuador's most scenic wide Amazon tributary, the Aguarico River. Spend 3 nights in the Cofan Lodge,
exploring the lower Cuyabeno and Zábalo Rivers.
The Cuyabeno Loop explores
the breathtaking scenery of lower Cuyabeno and Zábalo
Rivers and the Cuyabeno Lake. Watch the amazing birds and
wildlife. Pass 2 nights with the amazing Cofan Indians in
the Cofan Lodge and enjoy 2 nights of comfort in the famous
Cuyabeno Lodge.
The Lagarto Cocha Expedition on hidden
creeks and lakes is the best Amazon journey in Ecuador!
Discover Indian tribes in Ecuador, Monkeys, Sloths,
Dolphins. No other Amazon rainforest in any of the
Amazon-Andean countries can match the wildlife viewing
of Cuyabeno and it is far better than Yasuní!
The Cuyabeno Lake Program
explores all the wild places surrounding the Cuyabeno Lake.
Bonsai-shaped Macrolobia trees with the whispering of the
mysterious prehistoric Hoatzin birds and the noisy Blue and
Yellow Macaws. Our Cuyabeno Lodge is on the best location,
because we were the first and chose the best location on a
seasonal island in the Cuyabeno Lake itself.
Our Northern Andes Tour lets you get a
taste of some of the best Andean National Parks,
visiting the highest groves in the world: the Polylepis
trees, the highest mountain in the world calculated from
the center of the Earth, the Chimborazo with Vecuñas and
Lamas, the highest active volcano in the world, the
Cotopaxi.
Our National Parks Tours take you on a fantastic
journey along the best possible sample of Andean and coastal
parks. They have been designed to complement
Galapagos and/or Amazon cruises. They can start from different places, particularly Quito,
Guayaquil and Cuenca. While the full program lasts 9 days, it is possible to
make a limited selection of parks, like the 6 days' "Andes
and Coast" module.
We have a fabulous selection of Galapagos
programs, including cruises, island hopping, scuba
diving or relaxing on one of the many different hotels
varying from modest inns to deluxe resorts.
A fabulous program for visiting the most
famous cultural highlights Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu and the
Sacred Valley. At the same time it serves as the Lima hub
for the Peru National Parks Tour. This module is an
extension to our National Parks Tour Ecuador and/or Galapagos National Park
and/or Amazon Cruises.
Galapagos Islands, Last minute,
Yachts, Hotels, Day trips, Island hopping
We at PARKS AND TRIBES can help you find the most suitable
arrangement for things to do at the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador: Since we have no boat of our own,
we don't try sell you our own boat, but instead we try to
find you the
Best Galapagos Deal for your
money, only taking a small commission for our mediation. Moreover,
we coordinate it perfectly with your Amazon trip National
Parks Tour, your city program
and/or whatever program you have on mainland Ecuador or elsewhere
in South America.
Some are concerned that the Galapagos Islands are overrun by
tourists. Indeed, visitation has grown considerably since the
second half of the nineties. Nobody knows how many visitors
the park can support. However, without visitors, Galapagos would
have vanished as a park long ago, together with its Galapagos animals.
Much has been achieved thanks to
income from ecotourism:
Wild pigs and goats have been eradicated from all uninhabited
islands, allowing the original vegetation with their fauna
to recover;
Most tortoise populations have recovered to levels where
they can maintain themselves in the wild;
The Government recognizes conservation based tourism as
a major source of income and not only protects Galapagos
but all parks of Ecuador.
Don't listen to the critics, your visit really DOES help pay
for the management of the Galapagos Islands and thereby contributes to their conservation.
Points of Interest of Galapagos Islands of Ecuador
Volcanism
While the
Galapagos Islands are most famous for their endemic plants and and animals, it
is also a fascinating geological "hotspot" between the Nazca and Cocos tectonic
plates. The hotspot started forming on the sea bottom some 20,000,000 years ago
and over the millions of years, gradually rose to 6 main islands, 12 smaller
islands, and about 50 islets and submerged rocks. 9 volcanoes are active, as
about 70 eruptions have occurred since 1800. The 26 May 2015 - eruption of Wolf
after 33 years of dormancy, has been a major geological event. Besides
volcanoes, different lava forms and basalt are interesting volcanic phenomena.
One
of the most dramatic views of the Galapagos Islands is the Pinnacle Rock from the top of the volcano on
Bartolome
Island.
Pahoehoe lava on Galapagos.
Lava tunnels are formed when a
liquid lava core continues flowing while the exterior cools
off and solidifies, like this one at Santa Cruz.
As is the case on all minor islands in the world, the
level of biodiversity on Galapagos is extremely low as
expressed in the number of species per hectare. In fact, as the
islands are so young, their biodiversity is even lower than
on some other islands of the same size.
And yet, the species
on Galapagos are unique in many ways, due to the location of
Galapagos right in the center of the Humboldt current, that
bends west and passes by the islands. That facilitated the
transportation of animal and plant species from the mainland onto
the different islands. On each island, the species that
succeeded in establishing itself, developed separately from
the same species on neighboring islands and from the
originating species on the main island. Thus a variety of
closely related but distinct species and subspecies could
develop.
Galapagos Animals
The "tameness" of their birds and mammals, many visitors
love to see animals from close by who appear to be unafraid
of them. Moreover, naturalists from all over the world like
to see first hand where Darwin came to his evolution theory,
which ultimately lead to the revolutionary publication the
"Origin of the Species".
Birds of the
Galapagos Islands
The
Nazca Booby,
Sula granti,
is a common breeder on Galapagos and can be found along the
tropical eastern Pacific Ocean.
The
Blue-footed Booby,
Sula nebouxii, is a common breeding bird of Galapagos
and many other tropical and subtropical islands of the Pacific
Ocean.
They rarely leave the nest when approached by people, but that
does not mean they are not disturbed. When people get close,
their heart rates go up dramatically and they are very much
alarmed. So always keep your distance, always watch out for
unprotected eggs on your trail and strictly obey the instructions
of your guide.
The only tropical penguin in the world, the
Galapagos Penguin, which can
always be seen at Las Tintoreras Islets.
The Galapagos
finches formed an essential part in the development of the evolution theory.
There are 15 Darwin's finches placed in the tanager family;
most There are 15 species of Darwin Finches on the Galapagos Islands and one on Cocos Island of Costa
Rica. The Galapagos specimens were first collected by Charles
Darwin during the second voyage of the Beagle and were quite
important for the development of the evolution theory.
John Gould also dedicated some of his fantastic drawings to
Galapagos Finches.
Another endemic
species is the Galapagos Hawk.
There are
five species in the single genus Fregata of which the
Magnificent Frigate Bird,
Fregata magnificens and Great
Frigate Bird,
Fregata minor, roam the skies of the
Galapagos Islands as well as breed there in several
colonies, particularly on Tower Island. They have long wings, tails and bills and the
males have a red gular pouch that is inflated during the
breeding season to attract a mate. They are pelagic
piscivores (fish eaters) which obtain most of their food by
chasing other birds until they throw up the fish they caught.
Cactuses are an
important food source for land iguanas and Galapagos Tortoises.
Prickly Pear of the genus Opuntia, Opuntia spp., is represented
in Galapagos by six species and fourteen endemic varieties of
cactus. It grows on the lower elevations of the islands where
rainfall is low and is a staple food for the Galapagos Land
Iguanas and Galapagos Tortoises, while they serve as nesting trees for the Galapagos
cactus finches.
At the higher elevations, there is so much fog and drizzling
rain, that actual forests can develop. With just one species of
tree - a kind of daisy - the Daisy Forest is rather species poor and
yet unique. A good location to see them is on Santa Cruz at
the Los Gemelos twin sink hole
craters.
Galapagos National Park Reptiles
The Galapagos Islands are named after these old giant tortoises,
Geochelone nigra, called "galapagos" in Spanish. They can live
up to several centuries. During the early worldwide trading
age, they were prized food as they can survive months without
food and water.
Sailors loaded their ships with hundreds of tortoises, thus
decimating their numbers to levels in which extinction became
almost inevitable. Thanks to half a century of captive breeding
and conservation measures in cooperation between the Darwin
Foundation and the Government of Ecuador National Park
Service, populations of most
species are slowly recovering to levels that allow them to survive
again in the wild on their islands on origin.
The extremely
rare subspecies are bred in a breeding station at the Darwin biological station.
Young tortoises
are kept in different cages for each subspecies. After they have grown large
enough to have a high survival chance, they are released in the wild on their
corresponding island.
On 21 October
21015, a publication in "Nature" magazine announced the discovery of a new
subspecies on Santa Cruz Island, the Eastern Santa Cruz Tortoise, Chelonoidis
nigra donfaustoi.
The new subspecies, the Eastern Santa Cruz Tortoise, Chelonoidis nigra donfaustoi. as they occur in the wild.
With a population of 250 animals, they are considered
vulnerable but not immediately threatened.
The Galapagos Lava Lizard is yet another endemic genus of reptiles
with distinct species on different islands.
The Galapagos Land Iguana, Conolophus subcristatus, is
a species of lizard in the Iguanidae family endemic to the Galapagos
Islands. The Galapagos Land Iguana varies in size and coloration
among different islands. There are two taxonomically distinct
forms of Conolophus inhabiting the western part of the
islands (C. rosada and C. pallidus) and one in
the central part (C. subcristatus).
Galapagos Land Iguanas are typically unafraid of people and
feed on the abundant Prickly Pear or Opuntia Cactus. It is always
amazing how they devour a cactus leaf with prickles and all.
Beware you don't get too close to these animals and never try
to touch them. Their bite can be extremely painful!
Galapagos Marine Iguanas,
Amblyrhynchus cristatus, is an iguana species endemic
to Galápagos Islands. where it is widespread throughout the
archipealogo. Among modern lizards, it has the unique
ability, to dive at deep as 9m below sea level for
foraging marine algae. Being a cold-blooded animal,
the marine iguana can spend a limited time in the cold water
of the Humboldt Current. Afterward diving it needs to warm
up in the sun. Throug special glands in their noses they
"sneeze" out the surplus salt.
Getting to know the under-water world at Galapagos is among
the greatest reasons why visit the Galapagos Islands.
Even if you did not bring a mask, it still is fun to
submerge a little and enjoy the colorful tropical fishes.
The best of course if you are a scuba
diver. Gear is available for rent, so you don't have to
bring your own.
Green turtles surround the shore of the Galapagos Islands,
particularly at Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island.
The "Red Rock Crab" or in Spanish "Abuete Negro",
Grapsus
grapsus, is common along the entire Pacific coast of Central
America and Mexico and nearby islands. It is one of the many
charismatic species that inhabits the Galapagos Islands and
occurring in great numbers along the water line, they are a
charming colorful attraction to all the visitors of the islands
and a thankful object for photographers.
Mammals of the Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos Sea Lion, Zalophus wollebaeki, is an endemic
species of Ecuador, only mating on the Galapagos Islands and
Isla de la Plata. This playful Sea Lion is very common on the
islands and during mating season the males round up large lack
of females. Swimming among these young and curious
animals at Playa de los Perros is among the 10 TOP
points of interest at the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. But stay away from the harems, as the heavy bulls are
dangerous and are known to have attacked people that have come
too close to their harem. Always follow the instructions of
your guide.
While the lowlands
of most islands are semi deserts, at some hidden locations,
one finds some mangroves where wading birds and even some flamingos
may find their habitat. But for extended
Mangroves in Ecuador,
one needs to visit the mainland, where some of the best
mangroves of the Eastern Pacific Ocean
can be found.
WARNING: You will be on the Equator. UV radiation is extremely
high everywhere you go and you need to protect you adequately,
even if you are dark-skinned. Always where a hat, not just
a baseball cap, and please, don't wear sandals or bear feet
when you come from abroad. I have seen such horribly painful
feet on people who covered everything but their feet. Your
feet get the most direct sunlight as they are exposed horizontally
to the sun!
Always put on high grade sun block (don't forget the edges
of your ears). Accustom your skin to the sunlight
by exposing it for no more than an hour the first day and
add an hour everyday afterwards. Don't be fooled by an overcast
sky, you can still get sun burn. Be particularly aware in
the highlands, where the UV is even higher! as well as on the
water (Cuyabeno, Galapagos), because on the water, the UV
effect is greater. Also beware of wind, as it also tends
to increase the sun burning of your skin.
WHY VISIT THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
PARKS & TRIBES and the COFAN LODGE
have their sales office inside:
+593 2 2 50 5310, +593 96 29 35 271
PARKS
AND TRIBES
