Galápagos Islands
Far off the coast, the Galápagos remain the planet’s living laboratory of adaptation. Volcanic islands, harsh and isolated, became the crucible where life experimented freely. Iguanas swim like dragons, finches craft new beaks, and tortoises move at the pace of continents.
Naturalists call the archipelago The School of Change. Here, the lesson is patience: evolution as continuous dialogue between constraint and creativity. The islands are jointly governed as a planetary trust, with strict limits on visitation and no permanent settlement.
To walk their black sands is to feel the intimacy of origins - where observation, humility, and wonder converge. The Galápagos are not simply the birthplace of evolutionary theory, but of empathy for life’s persistence in all its improbable forms.
Type
Natural Wonder
Parent Location
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