Jan 26th, 2012 at 8:00AM: On February 1st, a new set of travel regulations will go into effect in the Galapagos Islands, which are designed to help protect the environment there, while simultaneously presenting travelers with a better experience. These new rules have already had an impact on available itineraries, but visitors can expect the same overall options for visiting this amazing destination.
The new rules are ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
GalapagosIslands posts
New Galapagos Islands travel regulations go into effect next week
Jan 26th, 2012 at 8:00AM: On February 1st, a new set of travel regulations will go into effect in the Galapagos Islands, which are designed to help protect the environment there, while simultaneously presenting travelers with a better experience. These new rules have already had an impact on available itineraries, but visitors can expect the same overall options for visiting this amazing destination.
The new rules are ...Adventure vacation Guide 2012: Ecuador
Jan 3rd, 2012 at 9:30AM:
Most Norteamericanos are hard-pressed to locate Ecuador on the map. Those familiar with this South American country the size of Colorado usually associate it with the (admittedly) spectacular Galapagos Islands. Yet Ecuador has so much more offer besides the Galapagos, and 2012 is the year to get your hardcore on. Why? Because the country's adventure travel industry is blowing up--but it's ...Snorkeling in the Galapagos
Aug 12th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
Snorkeling allows those of us who either can't afford or are too scared to SCUBA dive to still experience the wonders of the ocean. That said, often the most awe-inspiring aquatic sites are hidden deep below the surface and hidden to those of us who don't have an oxygen tank strapped to our backs. Thankfully, if you find yourself in the Galapagos Islands, the animals of the sea come looking ...
New Galapagos travel rules help protect the islands for future visitors
May 5th, 2011 at 8:00AM: A month ago we told you about some significant changes to the rules of travel in the Galapagos Islands that will go in effect in 2012. In a nutshell, the new regulations say that a ship cannot visit the same island twice within a 14-day period, which will likely have an impact on the available itineraries that are currently being offered to visit the place. While the intent of that story was to ...New Galapagos Islands regulations will change 2012 tours
Apr 10th, 2011 at 8:00AM:
Over the past decade or so, the Galapagos Islands have become one of the more popular tourist attractions in the world. In fact, they've gotten so popular that the fragile ecosystem there has become threatened by the amount of tourist traffic that now visit the area each year. In 2012, a new set of regulations will go into effect that may help protect the Islands, and could have an effect on ...Take a photographic adventure with National Geographic
Mar 23rd, 2011 at 8:00AM: Fans of National Geographic have long been drawn to the magazine's fantastic photos, with many of us wishing we had the skills to take similar shots ourselves. Now, National Geographic Expeditions is offering us the opportunity to go on a photographic adventure while building and honing those skills along the way.
Nat Geo Expeditions is the travel arm of National Geographic, offering up some ...Video of the Day - Underwater in the Galapagos
Mar 15th, 2011 at 5:00PM:
I'm not one to shy away from a good adventure. I've bungee jumped Victoria Gorge, plummeted from a plane at 15,000 ft, and stood atop the summit of Kilimanjaro.
But the thought of strapping a cylinder to my back and descending into the depths of the ocean mildly terrifies me.
If there was one video that could change that and make me reconsider my fear, it would be today's Video ...
Explore the Galapagos Islands on a stand-up paddle board
Dec 4th, 2010 at 8:00AM: The Galapagos Islands have been inspiring adventurous travelers almost from the very moment that Charles Darwin first stepped ashore back in 1835. Upon his arrival, the famous naturalist discovered an array of unique wildlife there, which inspired him to write The Origin of Species and formulate his Theory of Evolution. Modern travelers continue to visit the Galapagos hoping to catch a glimpse of ...Vote for the new Seven Wonders of Nature
Nov 21st, 2010 at 8:00AM: A few years back there was an organized effort to select a New Seven Wonders of the World, which resulted in a list of seven amazing places that joined the Great Pyramids on a modern list of spectacular destinations. Now, a similar effort is being made to select a New Seven Wonders of Nature as well.
The process began not long after naming the New Seven Wonders, with more than 440 locations, in ...Photo of the Day (10.11.10)
Oct 11th, 2010 at 6:00PM:
The great thing about traveling with friends is that you really get to spend a tremendous amount of time together. Assuming you haven't chosen a bad travel partner, that extended and intense time together can truly take a friendship to the next level. However, even best friends get sick of each other from time to time. Eating every meal together, sharing every bedroom and never having an ...Abercrombie & Kent: Five cinema-cations around the world
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:00AM: You may not have that look that Hollywood craves, but you still want to get close to the action, right? You want to touch the greatness that comes with being splashed across screens from coast to coast. Thanks to the latest concept from luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent, you don't need talent. The latest "cinema-cation" packages send you to the locations where some of the hottest movies ...Ship runs aground in the Galapagos
Mar 20th, 2010 at 8:00AM: On Wednesday of this week, a tourist ship named the M/S Alta ran aground, and became stuck on a reef in the Galapagos islands while entering the harbor at Puerto Ayora, along the southern coast of Santa Cruz island. The extent of the ecological damage to the reef has yet to be determined, but fortunately no one aboard was injured in the accident, which was caused, at least in part, due to a ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Political conflict in the Galapagos
Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:00AM:
Street protests are not a common occurrence in Galapagos, but a recent decision by the Ecuadorian government to fight over fishing and illegal fishing by giving fishermen tourist permits – over other residents, who've been waiting patiently themselves, many for years – sent locals into the streets armed with pots for banging, loudly. Virtually everyone who's moved to the Galapagos ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Sea Shepherd Conservation in the Galapagos
Dec 11th, 2009 at 9:30AM:
While Sea Shepherd's chief cheerleader and trouble-inspirer Paul Watson is holding forth from his ship, The Farley Mowat, continuing its chase of Japanese whale hunters off Antarctica and (recently) being arrested on a thirty-year-old warrant in Portugal (where he had gone to attend a meeting of the International Whaling Commission) ... the Washington state-based environmental group's ...The Abercrombie & Kent online sale starts now!
Dec 10th, 2009 at 10:00AM: You looking to go to Botswana next year? Or, maybe Chile? Now's the time to book your trip. Abercrombie & Kent, which sends its guests on the road in style, is starting its rare online-only sale now. The discounts start at 5 percent off the itineraries' usual prices. Every half hour, another 5 percent is chopped off. Six hours from now, any trips that are left will be discounted 60 percent. ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Overfishing the Galapagos Islands
Dec 9th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
The equation is straightforward: Too many people attempting to live permanently in the Galapagos + too few jobs to go around = a percentage are resorting to illegal economies to survive. Shark finning is one of those illegalities, and still growing. Financed by mafias based in mainland Ecuador, fins are taken – hacked off, the useless carcasses tossed overboard – and sent abroad ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Conservation International on the Galapagos Islands
Nov 17th, 2009 at 9:00AM:
Fernando Ortiz grew up on mainland Ecuador and has lived in the Galapagos the past twenty years. His career path has led him from tour guide to dive guide and eventually dive company manager. Along the route he decided that talking to tourists about conservation was not enough, so he made the leap to fulltime environmentalist. Today he runs Conservation International's office in Puerto Ayora. ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- The Charles Darwin Research Center
Nov 6th, 2009 at 10:00AM: While in the Galapagos filming we ran into an American writer living in Puerto Ayora, the big town on the island of Santa Cruz, researching a book about exactly the same subject of our film – the current state of affairs across the archipelago.
Carol Ann Bassett's book is just out, published by National Geographic, fittingly titled "Galapagos at the Crossroads: Pirates, Biologists, ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Welcome to the Galapagos!
Nov 3rd, 2009 at 11:00AM:
Often by the time the mainstream media runs big stories about an environmental battle it's often too late. I've seen it up-close dozens of times during the past couple decades and have reported so many David-versus-Goliath stories – usually positing good-hearted indigenous peoples and international environmental groups against greedy, monolithic utility companies and strong-arming ...Galapagos sea tortoise "Lonesome George" is lonesome no more
Jul 29th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Visitors to the Galapagos have no doubt caught a glimpse of one of the islands' more famous inhabitants, a very rare sea turtle that is believed to be the last of his subspecies, and the rarest creature on Earth, who was affectionately dubbed Lonesome George more than three decades ago, when he was first brought to the his current home. The Pinta Island Giant Tortoise, who weighs nearly 200 ...
