In 1535 Fray Tomas de Berlanga, a Bishop of Panama, documented the official first visit to the Islands when his ship drifted westward from Peru in the ocean currents. After sometime without sufficient resources on the island, the captain left disenchanted but intrigued by the wildlife and numerous Galapagos (giant tortoises). He went back and recounted what he saw to King Carlos V of Spain.
The islands appeared on the map in the late 16th century as the "Insulae de lo Galopegos".
In 1546 when Pizarro and his crew drifted off the coast of South America and saw the distant Galapagos Islands floating on the horizon, it looked as if they were moving as their boat was carried by the currents through the mist closer and closer, and so due to this mysterious land ahead they named them "Las Islas Encantadas" (The Enchanted Islands).
During the Spanish war between England and Spain, English Bucaneers used the islands as a base and refuge after their raids. William Ambrose Cowley drew up the first basic navigational charts in 1684.
In the 1800's, as South America became increasingly independent of Spanish rule and open to trading, mercantile vessels such as whaling ships came to the islands, especially Floreana. Hunting the populations of sperm whales in the South American seas, the whalers had lasting effects upon the islands that are still apparent today: the reduction of elephant tortoises, the near extinction of sperm whales and the unofficial Barrel Post Office on Floreana.
1807 saw the arrival of the first resident on the islands. Irishman Patrick Watkins arrived on the island of Floreana marooned at sea. For two years he lived from growing vegetables, sometimes trading them with passing whaling ships for rum. Eventually he stole a ship's longboat, taking some of the sailors with him, however only he arrived at Guayaquil on the continent.
With Ecuadorian independence, the fledgling country annexed the islands in 1832, renaming them the "Archipielago del Ecuador." At that time, the English pirate names changed to traditional Spanish names and patriotic Ecuadorian names, such as Floreana named after General Flores.
One settlement that formed in the 1930's is perhaps almost as intriguing as the wildlife. A German doctor of curious tastes, Friedrich Ritter, practiced what would today be called holistic medicine. Removing all of his teeth to avoid any dental complications and bringing Dore Strauch, his patient suffering from multiple sclerosis, Dr. Ritter arrived at Floreana in 1929. There they set up a gardening utopia that was quite successful. Soon two more Germans -Hienz and Margaret Wittmer-- joined them, at the location if not in friendship. There they lived in a standoffish harmony, until the arrival of "The Baroness." An Austrian woman going by Baroness Eloisa von Wagner Bosquet, dressed with whip, revolver and black boots, brought with her three apparent love-slaves/servants: two Germans and an Ecuadorian. From this point, disputes arose between the motley settlers -usually blamed on the Baroness, and soon a series of mysteries, to this date unsolved, occurred. One day the Baroness and one of her servants told the Wittmers that they were bound for South East Asia. They were never heard from again. The other German servant secured a passage on a boat headed for Guayaquil. He was found mummified on the beach of Marchena Island with the body of the ship's captain.
The same year, Dr. Ritter, a vegetarian, died of food poisoning from spoiled chicken.
1959, precisely one hundred years after the publication of Darwin's Origin of the Species, Ecuador declared the islands its first national park, preserving whatever land that was not already settled for protection. Five years later the Charles Darwin Research Station was opened outside of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. Working with the Nation Park Office, the station conducts research and determines courses of action to protect the islands.
Student COMMENTS
Estimado Eugenio,
Finalmente volví a Inglaterra. Le agradezco por haber organizado mis viajes y mis estudios con mucha paciencia. Las 6 semanas en Ecuador
fueron unas de las más interesantes de mi vida.
I can whole heartedly recommend your language school Instituto Superior de Español. The concept of learning Spanish while travelling
is superb and your organizational talent in working out individual itineraries is admirable! For some spoilt visitors from rich countries
it might be hard to fit in with an Ecuadorian family, but it gives a unique opportunity to learn more about the country than the superficial impressions usually granted to tourists.
Many thanks to you, your team and the host families for the courtesy, patience and good humor which made my trip so enjoyable!
I can also recommend the very friendly and comfortable jungle lodge and rafting or kayaking excursions who's safety standards were better
than some European organizations I have encountered.
Monika Lloyd-Burton
Poole England
monikarcadia[at]ntlworld.com
Further comments...
