Politics News

Eric Castro asked:


The inhabitants are between two and three hundred in number; they are nearly all people of colour, who have been banished for political crimes from the Republic of the Equator, of which Quito is the capital. The settlement is placed about four and a half miles inland, and at a height probably of a thousand feet. In the first part of the road we passed through leafless thickets, as in Chatham Islands at Galapagos Islands.

Higher up, the woods gradually became greener; and as soon as we crossed the ridge of the Galapagos islands, we were cooled by a fine southerly breeze, and our sight refreshed by a green and thriving vegetation. In this upper region coarse grasses and ferns abound; but there are no tree-ferns: I saw nowhere any member of the palm family, which is the more singular, as 360 miles northward, Cocos Island takes its name from the number of cocoa-nuts. The houses are irregularly scattered over a flat space of ground, which is cultivated with sweet potatoes and bananas. It will not easily be imagined how pleasant the sight of black mud was to us, after having been so long, accustomed to the parched soil of Peru and northern Chile.

The inhabitants, although complaining of poverty, obtain, without much trouble, the means of subsistence. In the woods there are many wild pigs and goats; but the staple article of animal food is supplied by the tortoises. Their numbers have of course been greatly reduced in this Galapagos islands, but the people yet count on two days’ hunting giving them food for the rest of the week. It is said that formerly single vessels have taken away as many as seven hundred, and that the ship’s company of a frigate some years since brought down in one day two hundred tortoises to the beach.

For more information about Ecuador tours & Galapagos Cruises visit:

Galapagos Islands Cruises

Galapagos Cruises

Eric Castro asked:


On Sunday February 12th, we celebrate Charles Darwin’s birthday. On board our Galápagos cruises we are having a series of commemorating events that will bring us together with Charles Darwin’s legacy. Of course, the Galápagos Islands are an icon in Darwin’s life, and certainly a strong foundation for the development of the theory of natural selection, commonly known as the Theory of Evolution. Our ships’ itineraries also visit the islands the HMS Beagle voyaged back in 1835.

This year our events have been accepted by the Darwin Day Organization (www.darwinday.org) as the only events from any Ecuadorian organization commemorating the Darwin Day Celebration.. Through this web site, we receive immediate coverage of our rewarding events, and we are glad to see ourselves next to other important organizations of the World. This initiative should lead the way to the year 2009 where once-in-a-lifetime events will occur: Charles Darwin’s Bicentennial (1809-2009), and the 150th Anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species (1859-2009). Another event of significant relevance is for sure February 12th, 1832, the year the Galápagos Islands were officially declared an insular territory of Ecuador. Such possession was issued by our first President, General Juan José Flores.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. CHARLES DARWIN…!

To see our international participation in the Darwin Day Celebration, visit: http://www.darwinday.org/englishL/home/2006.php

For general information about Charles Darwin, visit:http://www.aboutdarwin.com/index.html

For information regarding the Voyage of the Beagle in Galápagos, visit: http://www.aboutdarwin.com/voyage/voyage08.html

For other Ecuador & Galapagos Cruises visit:

Galapagos Islands Cruises

Galapagos Cruises