One of the first places we visited on the island was the Charles Darwin Research Station. This research station is located just outside the town, a little over 1 km away. An interesting fact is that there is no asphalt in the town; everything is paved with red bricks, used for both walking and driving.

At the research station, in addition to the standard research facilities, you can see various specimens of tortoises. Each island had a unique type of tortoise; they are not all the same, and the differences in their shells and physical characteristics are easily noticeable. Besides tortoises, the station also boasts a rich plant life, with various specimens clearly marked with signs.

Of course, the station also has a small exhibition area where you can see skeletons of tortoises, whales, and various other interesting exhibits. The preserved body of Lonesome George is also on display. Lonesome George was the last known individual of his subspecies, found on Pinta Island in 1971. He lived at the Charles Darwin Research Station until his death in 2012. Lonesome George’s story became a symbol for the fight to save endangered species.

His subspecies was driven to extinction by hunting and the disruption of the ecosystem. Tortoises on the Galapagos thrived and survived precisely because they had no natural predators. With the introduction of new species to the island by humans, the biological system was disrupted, and this subspecies disappeared forever from the planet with George’s death.

Entrance to the station is completely free, making it an ideal location for a day trip. The station is surrounded by numerous marked paths that wind through large, earthen enclosures bordered by stone, where various tortoises are kept. Everything is clearly marked. At certain points, there are also signs directing visitors to various coves and small beaches where they can relax and cool off.


Everywhere along the beach, there are iguanas laying their eggs in the sand. You can often see them, besides their usual basking spots, digging and moving around in the sand. The coast is often full of small red crabs that, like the iguanas, absorb the sun’s warmth until a wave washes them off the rocks. Although they look clumsy and move sideways, they are actually incredibly fast and agile.



This is undoubtedly one of the most vibrant destinations in the world, as Darwin himself concluded. When Charles Darwin’s name is mentioned, thoughts inevitably wander to his legendary voyage on the HMS Beagle, which changed the way we understand life on our planet. This epic journey began in 1831 and lasted almost five years, during which Darwin explored distant lands, collecting samples of plants, animals, and geological formations. His expedition culminated in one of the most fascinating places on Earth—the Galapagos Islands. The ship’s route can be seen on one of the information panels at the station.

When the ship landed on the Galapagos in 1835, Darwin was captivated by the stark beauty of these volcanic islands in the Pacific, located about 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador. Although they appeared isolated, the islands were home to a world of life unlike anything he had ever seen. The observations he recorded on this archipelago became the key inspiration for his revolutionary work, “On the Origin of Species.”




Walking the dusty paths and observing the exotic animals, Darwin noticed something intriguing. On each island, he encountered species that were unique to that place, yet somehow similar to species from neighboring islands or even the South American mainland. The Galapagos finches, known as Darwin’s finches, particularly caught his attention—the shape of their beaks varied depending on the food available on a particular island.

The encounter with giant tortoises was also fascinating. Their size, shell shape, and behavior varied from island to island, indicating their adaptability to specific habitat conditions. Locals told him that it was possible to identify which island a tortoise came from just by looking at its shell.


This “laboratory of evolution,” as it is known today, became a symbol of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The Galapagos proved that nature is not static—species evolve, adapt, and change through generations. Although I am not a strong proponent of this theory, I certainly cannot deny the magnificence of these islands and what they offer in terms of flora and fauna.