Intriguing and mysterious the islands of the Galapagos archipelago rise up from the Pacific Ocean. Around one thousand kilometres off the South American continent the extensive group of nineteen volcanic islands have an almost primeval appearance.

These islands derived their name from the Spanish word for ‘turtle’. For many centuries the giant turtles were considered to be a culinary delicacy and a total of fourteen sub-species of giant turtle inhabit the islands, some of which have been known to live for more than a hundred and fifty years.

Even today ocean biologists and an assortment of other scientists follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and in the 1960’s a research station on one of the islands was named in his honour.

With the introduction of non-indigenous dogs, cats and rats, the ecological balance on some of the islands has become critical, however, since 1959 the Galapagos Islands have been designated as a protected area.