Galapagos Explorer: your luxury vessel in Galapagos

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PREHISTORY

Ancient archeological remains have been found which indicated that the historical inhabitants of the Ecuadorian coast arrived on "Balsas" or a floating crafts and a sailing technique, which allowed them to go far out to sea. There are no traces of permanent settlements because they were probably accidental trips and lost at sea; therefore, it was very difficult for them to return.

1535 DISCOVERY

The islands were discovered by Tomas de Berlanga, they found two islands and they saw three more, one of them, the largest, was Isabela. They named them Galapagos because of the similarity of the tortoise’s shell on a Spanish saddle. The lack of water and abundance of rocks caused a negative impression at first.

1561 FIRST MAP OF THE ISLAND

The islands soon appeared on maps. The first was a map from 1561, soon they appeared on the Dutch maps like Mercator (1569) and Ortelius (1570). The name the "Enchanted Islands" appeared on a map by Ortelius of 1589. Guerrit’s map of 1622 shows three islands identified as Isabela, Santa Cruz, and San Cristobal.

1680 PIRATES AND BUCCNEERS IN THE 17th CENTURY

The islands continued to be forgotten for more than a century until the English pirates realized they were an ideal base for attacking, (the Spanish trade ships) hiding out, repairing their boats, stocking up on water and tortoise meat for later journeys. The first expedition was that of John Cook and Richard Hawkins (1680). The second expedition in 1684 (Cook and E. Davis) was more intense and prolonged. They traveled the surrounding seas until 1688. The third was by Rogers and Countney who stayed from 1707 until 1711. With these expeditions began the exploitation of the tortoises.

1684 COWLEY AND THE FIRST ENGLISH NAMES

In the expedition of John Cook in 1684, a long traveled William Dampier, who has left us a long legacy, and Ambrose Cowley made the first comprehensive map of the islands and gave them the English names, which last until today. Dedicating them to several sponsors or friends: The island of King Charles, Crossman, Brattle, Antony Dean, and the Duke of York, Norfolk, Albemarle, and Narborough. The map shows for the first time the approximate position of the islands, although some of them are difficult to identify, lake "Charles Island" which could be one of the islands currently known as Floreana, Española, or San Cristobal.

1744 SPANISH EXPLORATION OF THE ISLANDS

Although they didn’t give much importance to the Galapagos in the first centuries, they explored them and gave some names, known as "the ancient Spanish names", but without clearly identifying them. Therefore "Isla de la Salud" or "Santa Maria" was probably the island currently known as Floreana; "San Bernabe" the currently Isla Santiago; "Mascarin" was probably Española; "La Isla de Tabaco", San Cristobal. Later the "Isla Santa Isabela" would be identified as Isabela. The "Islas Santa Maria" (Tortuga, Crossman), appear in several French maps. In 1744, the Geographic Source made a clearer map with several Spanish names that haven’t been conserved.

1788-1860 WHALERS IN GALAPAGOS: COLNETT

Several English whalers discovered that the whales migrated to the Galapagos to breed. In 1788, the ship Emilia arrived to England with 140 tons of oil and 888 sea lion skins. Soon after, the Beaver of Nantucket (USA) returned with 1,300 tons of whale oil. It was the beginning of a virtual stampede. In 1793, Captain James Colnett arrived in the H.M.S. Rattler to study the possibilities of establishing a whaling station in the South Pacific. By the end of the century, no less than 40 whalers, English and American frequented the water of Galapagos during the time of the whales to stock up on water, tortoises and sea lion skins. It will never be known how many thousands of tortoise were sacrificed and taken from the islands.

19th CENTURY THE FIRST INHIBITIANT: PATRICK WATKINS

In the beginning of the 19th century, an Irish sailor was abandoned on Charles Island (Floreana), his name was Patrick Watkins and he is considered the first inhabitant of the islands. He cultivated vegetables, which he traded to the whalers for rum to get drunk. Several years later, he managed to take some boats and some men whom he treated like slaves. With them, he took to sea but he arrived in Guayaquil alone. He then went to Patia where he convinced a mulatto woman to accompany him back to the island. He was arrested when trying to steal a ship and he spent the rest of his days.

1832. ECUADOR CLAIMS RIGHTS TO GALAPAGOS

Although the islands belonged to Quito during the colonial years, after the independence they couldn’t be considered anybody’s land. For this reason the General Jose Villamil, born in Louisiana and residing in Guayaquil, suggested officially incorporating the Archipielago into the new Republic. The Colonel Ignacio Hernandez, delegate of the governor, performed the ceremony February 12, 1832 on the island of Floreana, which took this name in honor of the first president of Ecuador, Juan Jose Flores.

1832-1837 THE FIRST COLONIZATION

General Jose Villamil organized a colonizing company with the illusion of converting the archipelago into a place of peace (the first town was called "The asylum of peace"), of progress and of the regeneration of criminals and rebel soldiers, by means of work. Villamil moved to the island on October 12, 1832 to try make his dreams come true. In the beginning, everything seemed to prosper but the presence of criminals destroyed the environment and ended up destroying the colony. In 1836, Villamil released domesticated animals (cows, horses, and donkeys) on the main islands. To take advantage of the grass and they reproduced very quickly, together with the wild animals that were left over from the previous colonization (dogs, cats, pigs, and goats) they turned into a danger for the ecology of the islands.

1835 CHARLES DARWIN IN GALAPAGOS

On September 15, 1835, Captain Robert Fitz Roy arrive to the Galapagos on the "Beagle" as part of a trip around the world with the young naturalist Charles Darwin. They first visited Chatham Island (San Cristobal), and later Charles Island (Floreana). They sailed between Narborough and disembarked on Santiago. While the officials on board the Beagle drew a map of the islands, Charles Darwin studied and collected samples of the flora and fauna. His observation of the diversity of species on the islands would be the basis for the later elaboration of the Theory of Evolution. The Galapagos would be seen from under a different light, a virtual laboratory of evolution.

1850-1860 THE PRISON

After Villamil left the island, the Galapagos was considered an ideal site for a prison, as its distance from the mainland made escape nearly impossible and the inmates would have sufficient food and water to survive. Sometimes the prisoners were without supplies, which prompted the delinquents to commit other crimes. A prisoner named Briones, who captured whaling boat, escaped with other prisoners to the mainland, and killed 28 men in the entrance to the Gulf of Guayaquil, committed the most famous crime. This incident provoked a strong controversy, because the owners of the whaling ship demanded large payments as compensation and the Government of the United States and threatened to send war ships if they didn’t pay.

1869-1878 SECOND COLONIZATION

1860, a whaler discovered the orchilla lichen, a valuable plant for dyeing. Several businessmen tried to exploit it, among them Mr. Jose Valdizan, a Spanish businessman residing in Guayaquil. He obtained exclusive rights in 1869 and moved to the islands of Floreana where he organized plantations once the business of the orchilla crashed. He believed, against the opinion of everyone that he could take delinquents to work on his properties and win them over with kindness and work. He was treacherously murdered July 23, 1878. The island was abandoned, the domesticated animals and cattle went wild and the workers didn’t want to return because they considered it a "cursed island".

1879-1904 J. COBO’S EMPIRE

Starting in 1879, on the island of San Cristobal, Manuel J. Cobos formed an advanced agricultural center, called "El Progreso", not far from the port. The first products included leather from the feral cattle, oil from tortoises and fishing, while sugar cane plantations were prepared for a factory, which was installed in 1891. Various ships maintained an active trade with Guayaquil. Unfortunately, "El Progreso" turned into a concentration camp with forced labor and where the will of Cobos was the only law. He imposed his own circulation, made decisions regarding the life, death or exile to isolated islands of many of his workers. Camilo Casanova was exiled to the Island of Santa Cruz, becoming an exact replica of Robison Crusoe. M.J. Cobos was assassinated by a group of his workers on January 15, 1904.

1850-1940 GALAPAGOS’ STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

The strategic location of the islands became very important as the time drew near for the opening of the Panama Canal. Various European and North American powers looked for any way to buy or rent some or all the islands, to be used as a fueling station for Navy ships, or more importantly, for the defense of the Canal on the Pacific side. They even tried to declare the islands "res nullius" (no man’s lands). Ecuador resisted this pressure, but ceded some of the islands to be used for defense during World War II.

1926-1929: THE NORWEGIANS

The Norwegians had shown an interest in the Galapagos since 1880 owing to the abundance of fish and opportunities to hunt whales. In 1908, a Norwegian sailboat crashed on the West Side of the archipelago and part of the crew was abandoned on the island of Santa Cruz for many months. Upon their return to Norway, they convinced many of their countrymen to immigrate to the islands. Many groups arrived during 1926 and two colonies were formed on Floreana and Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, the conditions weren’t as they had expected and in less than two years, the majority of the immigrants had returned to Norway. Captain Bruun of the Norwegian marines made a final attempt to colonize the islands, but he died tragically on Isabela in July of 1931.

1929-1934: THE GERMANS IN FLOREANA

In August 1929, Doctor Friedrich Ritter and Dore Stranch arrive to the island of Floreana, two lovers anxious to live under their own philosophy, isolated from their decadent civilization. Their writings attracted others with similar ideas, but none of them lasted long except for the Wittmer family (Heinz, Marget, and Harris) from Cologne. A few months later, an Austrian woman arrived, who introduced herself as the Baroness together with three lovers, and the island was transformed into a small hell, due to intrigues of the new inhabitants. The first lover returned to the mainland after a few weeks.
The Germans in Galapagos

In March 1934, the Baroness disappeared with one of her lovers, Phillipson, and even though Margret affirms that they went on a yacht to the Pacific Island, no one has given any credit to her story. Margret convinced Lorenz, the surviving lover, to return to Germany. He disappeared along with another Danish man, Nuggerud, before arriving to the island of San Cristobal. A few months later, Dr. Ritter was poisoned (on purpose or by accident?) by Dore, and died. In December, the mummified bodies of Lorenz and Nuggerud were found on the island of Marchena. Out of the seven colonists four died mysteriously, this mystery has never been solved. However, the Wittmer family still lives on the island.

1936 THE FIRST AIRPLANES

William Robinson lived on his yacht in Tagus Cove, studying the flora and fauna of the islands, when he suffered a serious attack of appendicitis and his situation quickly became desperate. Luckily, the tuna clipper the "Santa Cruz" was nearby and contacted the Marines based in the Panama Canal by radio. Once permission was granted, two hydroplanes took off for the islands, followed by the destroyer "Hale". They arrived on time to save his life, and flights to the islands were installed. The first airplane flight, which carried mail from the Canal Zone to the Galapagos, took place on February 6, 1936. A commemorative stamp was created. The first commercial flights arrived on January 3, 1959, with the LIA airlines and later with TAME Ecuador’s airline (June 6, 1963), and once again, booklets of commemorative stamps were created. TAME still has flights to the Galapagos.

1942-1949 GALAPAGOS IN WW I

The United States considered the Galapagos essential to the vigilance of the Canal. Since 1928, the US having studied all of the alternatives in case of a war in the Pacific, chose the island of Baltra as the principal base, and accumulated everything necessary in the Canal Zone ("the Galapagos Units"). Aerial vigilance began Five days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. March of 1942, operations at the base began: the U.S. built 3 airstrips (the first airplane, a B24 landed in May) the marines had their center in the adjacent "Eolian Cove" and constructed a dock (which is still being used), hydroplane ramps, etc. In total, the Beta Base, as it was called, could house six thousand men. Even though the Beta Base never had to face an emergency, the Union recognized that the Galapagos had played an important role, and for that reason they tried to buy or retain the base after the war. The official turnover took place in 1946, but the last contingents didn’t leave until the beginning of 1949.

1946-1959 PENAL COLONY

The Wall of Tears

Once again, Ecuador made the error of opening a penal colony on the Galapagos Islands. In 1946, it was used as military installations on an alternative base, which operated during the war. Unfortunately, the situation grew worse and the colony turned into a concentration camp until 1950, when a police chief forced the people of the penal colony to construct a wall. This wall is known as "the wall of tears". In February 1958, there was an uprising, an intelligent prisoner named "Patecuco", disarmed police and took "Valinda" the yacht that belonging to an American millionaire and used it to escape to the mainland. No deaths occurred during the uprising, but the incident caused international repercussions and the government shut down the penal colony and stopped sending prisoners to the islands.

1936-1959 FIRST PRESERVATION ATTEMPTS

Ecological preservation attempts
Various scientific expeditions at the beginning of this century sounded the alarm of the killing of the giant tortoise and of the danger of their disappearance. The events of the incorporation of the islands to Ecuador (1932) and of the visit of Charles Darwin (1935) were the occasions when the Ecuadorian government took measures for the conservation of the animals. In 1936, the islands were declared a National Reserve with stricter regulations. Finally, in 1954, a movement was started to protect the species of the Galapagos and to found a center for scientific investigations on the islands.
The Ecuadorian government declared the Galapagos Islands a National Park on July 4, 1959.