And I’m returning to the place he explored nearly 200 years ago, the Galápagos Islands! The Galápagos are an archipelago, or group of islands, off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean.

There's no place like the Galapagos Islands. One of the most biodiverse spots on Earth, visitors will leave here having seen something entirely new, like a marine iguana or colony of Darwin's finches.

Many prospective visitors regard the Galápagos Islands as the incarnation of such dreams—isolated, ecologically rich, protected from human distortion and therefore revealing nature in her ...