The Galapagos Islands are not the only place on earth that mixes unique wildlife and beautiful beaches, granted. There are, of course, travel sites and cruise destinations in remote islands with palm trees and crystal-clear turquoise beaches that offer snorkeling opportunities with big bright fish and spectacular animals. Now… spectacular animals are found all over the world… Yet no other destination offers such easy viewing of its unique wildlife. And just on a personal note, I find the marine iguana, the Flightless Cormorant and the 14 Darwin’s Finches the most unique examples of wildlife anywhere.
Why, you ask? Well, these animals, unsuspectingly, are not only strange and endemic, they have changed the way humanity views the world! No other place on earth could remotely offer this to our legacy as humans. The Galapagos Islands is thus, symbolically speaking, unique among all other islands (this is perhaps something that lies behind Travel & Leisure magazine’s recent awards).
I, for one, don’t believe that there are alternatives to any given destination. Every place on earth is unique and deserves to be visited and experienced. Of course, no man will ever be able to visit every destination. So, the Galapagos Islands does have a status of being, deservedly, one of the most special and recommendable. The reasons include their natural history, their legends, their place in human history and thought… and to that, you can add the fascinating encounters with wildlife completely unabashed, animals with unmatched personality traits that all Galapagos cruise travelers will get to know… It’s not just the fact that you sunbathe next to a sea lion, or you see a penguin on the rocks… here, you swim with sharks and penguins, you see the most fabulous courtship displays of the most spectacular seabirds. There is truly nothing like it.
