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TRAVEL/TOURS ADVERTORIAL www.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / SPRING 2017 55 Above: Sketch of fi nches from the Galápagos by John Gould from Charles Darwin’s specimensBelow left: Barrel post offi ce on the island of FloreanaThe sum total of his booty was a mule, a large statue of the Virgin Mary and eight tonnes of quince marmalade. Eager to avoid Spanish retribution and in need of provisions for his crew and 100 Spanish prisoners, Dampier headed for the Galápagos (old Spanish for ‘tortoise’). As he recounts in A New Voyage Around the World (1697) the crew eventually discovered fresh water, as well as copying the animals and drinking the juice of the fruits of a prickly-pear-like tree. (Incredibly, earthenware vessels that are likely to have been the receptacles for the despised marmalade were discovered embedded in a lava fl ow on the island of Santiago, and also dumped in a nearby bay. Examples can still be seen at the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora, the largest town). A year later, privateer William Ambrose Cowley drew the fi rst known map of the archipelago, naming all the islands. Soon the archipelago became a pirate haven in the Pacifi c; a provisioning post and, some say, a safe place to hide treasure for a rainy day. Certainly, Spanish silver reales, or ‘pieces of eight’, have been found on Galapagan soil, while undiscovered lava caves and tunnels may yet hold hidden treasures.By the mid- to late-18th century, the age of piracy had come to a close, but whaling for oil had become a major enterprise. With the Atlantic vastly depleted, British whaling fi rm Enderby and Sons paid for a Royal Navy mission to the Pacifi c. Whales were found; the islands were revisited and Captain James Colnett set up the ‘barrel post-offi ce’ that still exists on Floreana.But the ecological death-knell for the islands had sounded. For the next 70 years, the whalers killed and ate the tortoises; clubbed tame iguanas and birds to death for sport; and captured and skinned seals for profi t. Goats were accidentally released in 1813 – an environmental disaster that was not dealt with properly until 2006.People also started living there. By 1835 when Charles Darwin arrived on HMS Beagle, there had been a colony on Floreana for three years. Darwin spent fi ve weeks on the islands, but it was only after returning home that he realised, in beginning to group his fi nches together, that “one might really fancy … one species had been taken and modifi ed for different ends”. Ironically, the fi nches could never be used as solid proof for his earth-shattering ideas. He had failed to label each specimen’s location and could not prove that each differently shaped beak hailed from a different place with a different set of circumstances. A similar mistake was made regarding the 45 adult tortoises taken aboard the Beagle – without exception, they had been eaten and their varied-shaped shells thrown overboard. Despite these setbacks, Darwin pursued his dogma-defying ideas for the next 20-odd years, fi nally publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859. Overnight, the certainty of God’s role in the creation of humanity was thrown into question – an extraordinary legacy for such a tiny group of islands. ■ISLAND SPIRITTauck’s ‘Cruising the Galápagos Islands’ is a unique way to experience these fascinating islands. The six-night cruise aboard one of the fi nest expeditionary-style yachts in the region, Isabela II, includes no more than 40 Tauck guests. There is a fl exible itinerary, allowing the ship to access many remote islands, while custom-made on-tour fi lm vignettes and the use of fi eld equipment (such as thermal imaging cameras to see what is living in tidal pools), bring an added dimension. The 2017 prices start at £4,160 for nine days. Alternatively, combine the Galápagos with the lost world of the Incas on Tauck’s ‘Peru & the Galápagos Islands’ tour. One of its most popular trips, as well as cruising around the Galápagos the itinerary includes meeting the famous Paso horses on a Peruvian ranch, a weaving demonstration at a local farm and a scenic rail journey to the gateway to Machu Picchu for an overnight stay next to the ancient Incan site. The 2017 prices start at £5,990 for 15 days.For more details, call 0800 810 8020 or see www.tauck.co.uk.Images: Shutterstock.