As we landed in Baltra airport we knew we where in the middle of nowhere... the scenery was dry, desertic and surrounded by miles of open sea.
Many people thought we were crazy as we told them we were going to take tourists to the Galapagos Islands. From there very discover the Islands were dubbed “Las Encantadas”(Spanish for the Enchanted), this was not the best slogan, Enchanted in this case meant : mysterious, hard to find and dangerous. This was how the “Archipelago de Colon” (official name of the Galapagos) was known amongst sailors, pirates and lost mariners stuck in the calm equatorial waters without wind to sail-out.
Yet this remote Pacific lost land of legends attracted a young scientist Sir Charles Darwin who on his “voyage of the beagle” included the Galapagos as part of his itinerary around South America. This was a tipping point in the history of the Islands, a new perspective came to exist when Darwin wrote his theory of evolution and caused uproar in the scientific community. The Galapagos attracted natural history explorers, scientists and researchers both professional and amateur.
Ecuador a small country in the Andes of South America, took claim of the Galapagos in the 1800's when nobody was interested and in the mid 1900's declared the archipelago as a National Park to be protected and studied. Then came UNESCO and declared the Islands as natural world heritage site. Now the archipelago and its surrounding waters are well protected and contribute to research and investigation.
Still in the wake of the Galapagos Islands as a natural haven we were seen as fools. People said : “who in their right mind would want to visit these dry, hot and faraway Islands on a vacation”, “It is only interesting to scientists” and many other comments that fortunately did not interfere with our vision of nature tourism – this was many years ago, when several pioneers evolved the tourism world introducing the concept of ecotourism, eco travel and wildlife cruises. The melting pot for this evolution in the travel world was the Galapagos Islands.
A new species was known to man the “ecotourist”. A person interested in conservation, natural history and marveling at the natural wonders of the planet. What better place for this new form of existence to develop and evolve the land of evolution the Enchanted Isles.
We are proud to be part of this history where conservation and tourism married and created a new lifestyle and source of income for many people around the world.
The Galapagos Islands tend to have this unique effect on people, it awakens a new level of conciousness by bringing man in such close contact with nature. Encounters as close as eyeball-to-eyeball with Blue footed boobies, marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and tropical penguins. Swimming with friendly sea lions, manta rays, sea turtles and harmless sharks. Nobody leaves the archipelago without feeling part of this natural wonder, this savage garden of survival where only the fittest and most flexible species can live-on. A new sense of responsibility is awakened, a strong urge to vouch and participate in its protection.
We invite you to explore the Islands on a virtual trip through our website. We have produced a log of trip reports, scientific research, descriptions of the Islands, their wildlife, plantlife and marine animals to give you an idea (nothing close to the real thing, as there is no way to prepare enough for a Galapagos wilderness travel experience) of what the Galapagos can offer to visitors.
We hope you are enticed to visit the Islands after reading through our presentation. If the case is so the Coral yachts are yours to charter or join one of our fixed departures.