Things you should know about the Galápagos Islands
... And every one an indisputable FACT!

The Galapagos Islands are situated in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,000km from mainland Ecuador.

The flight from Guayaquil to Baltra Island takes one hour and fifty minutes. We get very excited when the Londoner in front of us leaves the latest edition of The Guardian on his seat and we snatch up the English paper like hungry street kids.

During his 5 week stay in the Galapagos in 1839, Charles Darwin visited most of the Volcanic islands onboard The Beagle.

The Beagle's captain, Fitzroy hoped to find ammunition for his belief in the creation of the earth by God. The irony is that it was he who appointed Darwin to be the on board naturalist.

We bought an 8 day cruise on the lovely Estrella de Mar Yacht. Nick appreciates this as it bears the same name as the hedonistic Spanish seaside resort in J G Ballard's distopian classic Cocaine Nights.

During our yacht trip we will cross the equator line twice, on either side of Isabella island.

The Galapagos Islands are so diverse in sealife because they sit at a crossroads of sea current systems. The antarctic Humboldt Current comes from the south up the coast of Chile. It brings animals like penguins and Antarctic sealions. The equatorial current comes from the west and dolphins and whales enjoy these conditions. The Panama current arrives from the north east and brings with it tropical animals like iguanas and turtles.

Being on the Galapagos is a privilege. It makes you want to savour every second. Fact.

We visit the small island of Chinese Hat. So named because it is thought to resemble a hat worn by Chinese people.

It is at the above island where we meet sea lions on the beach for the first time. On land, they look very cute but smell absolutely dreadful. In the water sea lions are graceful and playful. We snorkel with one off Fernandina island. She speeds around us with huge open round eyes, obviously curious.

This encounter makes us forget the chilly water temperature. Even a wetsuit can't keep you warm for more than 10 minutes.

The white tipped reef shark is harmless to man. We get our first glimpse of one and follow after it while snorkelling off Espumilla Bay on Santiago Island.

In 1990 there were 60,000 visitors to the Galapagos. There will be over 100,000 visitors to the Galapagos this year. If visitor numbers are allowed to grow at this rate then this fragile environment is doomed.

The link between wealth and intelligence in humans is not direct, but its still one of the easiest and therefore one of the most effective tools in saving the Galapagos' fragile ecosystem.

The 'tourist tax' to enter the islands is $100. Although high this is not high enough to keep stupid people away.

Some stupid people, although warned not to, like to take away mementos from the island, bring in plant species, stray off paths, touch wildlife etc. In 2012 a German tourist was arrested at Baltra airport with 4 land iguanas in his suitcase. In 2013 a South African tourist with a German passport accidentally bashed a giant turtle in the face with her scuba tank.

There are 28 bird species which are endemic (unique) to the Galapagos. A further 30 are resident (stay year round but are not unique to the Galapagos). If you introduced sparrows to the Galapagos, but then killed every sparrow in the world that wasn't in the Galapagos, then you could consider the sparrow to be endemic to the Galapagos.

I don't suggest you try to do that. That would be ridiculous.

We saw a Galapagos hawk which simply stood watching on the beach as we approached. Darwin noted that so fearless of man were that that he could practically 'knock them off the branch with the barrel of my gun'. This one stood on the sand until we were 2 metres away, then flew off within grabbing distance.

In 1859 Darwin published On The Origin of Species. Darwin's seminal work was heavily influenced by his study of differences in the beaks of finches as they adapted to specific island conditions in the Galapagos. Even today these finches are not afraid of people and will happily hop over your beach towels, land on your book while you are reading it and peck at your big toe whilst sun bathing on playa La Loberia.

In 1959 the Charles Darwin Research Centre was founded in Santa Cruz island.

Lonesome George was discovered in 1971 while a team were hoping to eradicate the 'introduced' goat species on Pinta island.

Lonesome George is dead. He died in the Charles Darwin research Centre in 2012. There are still signs pointing visitors to his enclosure. He was the last surviving member of his race- the Giant Pinta Tortoise.

George was a saddle species of Giant Tortoise, but his DNA is very similar to that of tortoises on Esmerelda Island

George was a disappointment. He was given every chance to mate with females of a similar species but he didn't.

There are many theories about George's inability to procreate the Pinta tortoise species but Lindsay knows the correct reason has never been suggested. When found in 1971 he was immediately removed and taken to Santa Cruz island where he remained to his death. 'Everything was tried' to get George to mate apart from the obvious. George, simply put, was homesick. Wouldn't you be?

Conservationists and scientists are waging a constant war to keep the balance on the Galápagos Islands, to ensure that endemic species survive and introduced species do not destroy original tenant populations.

Santiago island was overrun by goats which were first introduced by mariners. In the 2000s there were big exercises to shoot all remaining goats which were destroying the habitats and population of endangered giant tortoises. National Park staff used the Judas Goat technique. Goats like to herd together. Putting a tagging chip into a Judas goat will allow you to track remaining goats which can then be killed.

The Galapagos endemic marine iguanas probably mutated from a land iguana relative which is now extinct. Marine iguanas make a horrible scratching sound as they chew algae off the rocks.

The endangered and endemic waved albatross (12,000 of these remain on Española island) 'sword fight' with their beaks during the mating ritual.

Blue footed boobies give each other gifts of sticks as part of the mating ritual. They are most populous on another Galapagos island Seymour, which is also the first name Damon Albarn gave to his pop group which is now called Blur.

The first mating ritual that we witness was that of our tour guide Christian flirting with a fellow passenger. We later also witness some endangered flightless cormorants having sex on Fernandina island.

Blue footed boobie young leave the islands and return 3 years later to breed. This is the amount of time we would like to spend travelling, rather than a paltry 6 months.

Although there are many species of bird, fish and sea mammal, there are very few species of land mammal on the Galapagos. This is because all species arrived on the newly formed volcanic islands carried on tides or by flight. This includes plant seeds carried in the stomachs of birds. Tortoises probably arrived since they can float for long distances with their long necks above water.

Once on the Galapagos a lack of traditional predators mean those that can survive the hostile climate and find food will probably thrive

Mutations may occur since size is unchecked (giganticism in tortoises) or also in order to adapt to specific island conditions. This applies to some Ecuadorian people too, who are mainly short but tend to pack the pounds around the tummy, thighs and backside.

Many people believe that the most annoying nationality of traveller is the American, Australian or Chinese. But the most annoying nationality is in fact Israeli.

The opuntia cactus is endemic to the Galapagos. It has a tree like brown trunk and Mickey Mouse ear branches. The candelabra cactus is not endemic and it does look like a candelabra

Rabida island has a red sand beach due to a high iron oxide content. Another opportunity to smell sea lions on land, they really do stink. Seriously.

The French couple that we have the misfortune to sit opposite at every dinner time, are so offensively dull that it borders on the criminal. We like the Polish couple and Bettina the German, but now the seating positions are established and we are stuck like this until the French leave on Saturday morning.

Darwins ship stocked up on giant tortoises for the trip onwards to Tahiti. They were tasty and could be stacked helpless and upside down without food for months until cooked fresh in a soup.

Meal times with Eric and Francoise would be boring only if they weren't so excruciating. They will answer questions sometimes if you ask them something, but even open questions (how, why etc) are met with a one word answer. Sometimes simply a Gallic shrug. They have not once in one of our 12 meal times generated any conversation themselves. Their silence is so complete that sometimes I think it can only be sarcastic. Sometimes I fear they must be doing it on purpose as some form of cruel and unusual punishment. But if, on one of the rare times my gaze returns from the middle distance and catches one of their eyes across the 2 feet of the table I can see that on occasion they look as uncomfortable as I feel. My only conclusion then is that they are just mind-bogglingly boring.
We have been counting down the mealtimes and only one remains, Friday night dinner. Blissfully, they must leave on a speedboat for Santa Cruz airport at 5am tomorrow. I may offer to get up early to wave them off. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

You're getting bored of these so called 'facts' now.

We went diving at Kicker Rock which is just off Puerto Moreno on San Cristobal Island. The first dive was an absolute shambles with a tour group of 8 going off in different directions. The second dive was amazing. We saw loads of turtles and sharks. A possible highlight of the entire trip.

When we leave the Galapagos islands on 4 July it is with genuine sadness. What a fantastic place.