Our listed vessels are vessels we know and trust and are confident in recommending. We are however able to offer any vessel sailing in the Galapagos. Just ask one of our experts for the full range of expedition vessels.

Perhaps more so than any other place in the world, the fauna of the Galapagos are unique. Charles Darwin's observations of these unique animals, their remarkable adaptation to a hostile environment, and the subtle variations between races of the same species living on different islands led directly to his theory of natural selection.

The theory explains how the vast multitude of species on the Earth has evolved from a simple, singled-celled ancestor. The theory remains the single most important one in biology. Thus we can look back at nearly five centuries of human contact with the Galapagos and say that, without a doubt, the most important event in the human history of the Galapagos was Darwin's visit in 1835.

Even without Darwin, though, the tale of human contact with the Galapagos is a fascinating one, and the Enchanted Islands, as the early mariners called them, have meant many things to many people from many lands.

According to legend....the Inca Tupac Yupanqui set sail from the coast of Ecuador in the late 1400's with 20,000 men on balsa rafts. On his journey he discovered and named two islands - Ava Chumbi (Outer Island) and Nina Chumbi (Fire Island). Some historians believe these islands were the Galapagos.