You have spent time researching, investigating and planning your Galapagos Islands cruise. Now that this step is taken care of, it is time to focus on the practical aspects …. and one of them being, “What do I need to pack for my time in Galapagos?”.
Related (and updated) details found here
TWEETER follow
FLASH Offers
LINKED IN Profile
FACEBOOK Profile
AEROGAL airline has just notified us, that as of June 24th 2009 [update confirmed on July 28, 2009], the following flight schedule change takes places:
DAYS: MONDAY TO SUNDAY (EXCEPT SATURDAY)
FLIGHT NO. 2K032
DEPART: QUITO | 07h50
ARRIVE: GUAYAQUIL | 08h35DEPART: GUAYAQUIL | 09h20
ARRIVE: GALAPAGOS | 10h05
FLIGHT NO. 2K033
DEPART: GALAPAGOS | 10h45
ARRIVE: GUAYAQUIL | 13h30DEPART: GUAYAQUIL | 14h30
ARRIVE: QUITO | 15h15
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Daily High ºC (ºF) | 29
(85) |
29
(85) |
31
(87) |
31
(87) |
27
(81) |
26
(79) |
25
(77) |
24
(76) |
24
(76) |
25
(77) |
26
(78) |
26
(79) |
| Daily Low ºC (ºF | 22
(71.6) |
24
(76) |
24
(76) |
24
(76) |
22
(71.6) |
21
(69.8) |
20
(68) |
19
(66.2) |
19
(66.2) |
20
(68) |
21
(69.8) |
22
(71.6) |
| Sea Temp ºC (ºF) | 24
(75.2) |
25
(77) |
25
(77) |
25
(77) |
24
(75.2) |
23
(73.4) |
22
(71.6) |
21
(69.8) |
22
(71.6) |
22
(71.6) |
23
(73.4) |
23
(73.4) |
| Rainfall mm (inch) | 68.6
(2.7) |
91.4
(3.6) |
94
(3.7) |
71.1
(2.8) |
33
(1.3) |
22.9
(0.90) |
15.2
(0.60) |
5.1
(0.20) |
5.1
(0.20) |
5.1
(0.20 |
7.6
(0.30) |
30.5
(1.20) |
| Wind factor | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
NOTE: WIND FACTOR SCALE: 1 – 2 (LIGHT) / 3 – 5 (MODERATE) / 6 -7 STRONG
The islands are isolated, so the climate is, determined almost entirely by the ocean currents, which in turn are influenced by the trade winds which push the currents. The Galapagos is a major intersection of several currents, which vary in intensity during the year as their driving trade winds blow and then weaken in a cycle that gives two distinct seasons to the islands. These currents also control the pattern and variety of Galapagos plant and animal life.
The climate of the Galapagos Islands is unusually dry for the tropics. There are two main seasons, each of which has a dramatic effect on the vegetation.
Photo from http://www.volcano.si.edu
La Cumbre volcano, located on the western island of Fernandina in the Galapagos Islands has rumbled into life again a week after it erupted.
The Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School reported 43 thermal alerts and said that satellite images revealed a column of gas that extended more than 60 miles (100 kilometres) west of the islands, indicating an increase in volcanic activity.
The La Cumbre volcano began spewing lava, gas and smoke on Fernandina Island on Saturday after four years of inactivity.
[APRIL 21, 2009] The latest reports about the ongoing eruption at Fernandina are both coming and going. Reports from officials in the Galapagos National Park suggest that the eruption was become more intense (in spanish), while later reports from the Geophysical Institute in Ecuador say that the eruption is waning. Both reports might be true and reflect the volatile nature of the eruption, but overall it seems that the wildlife (that probably is used to this sort of thing anyway) hasn’t been effected too much by the eruption.
Contrary to popular belief, now is an advantageous time to travel overseas, especially to Ecuador, Peru and the Galapagos Islands. Times have never been better to put your international dream trip into action, since travel deals and incentives are proliferating (with many employers encouraging voluntary leaves of absence from work) time to travel is in greater abundance. If you have some money saved up, this could be a great time to grab your passport and head abroad.
The secret, of course, is to make your money go as far as possible, and taking advantages of special offers and deals – including the current abundance of flight spaces.
It boils down to a supply and demand issue. The higher the demand, the less spaces are available and the prices can increase. As demand decreases, spaces become more available and the corresponding rates start to drop. Special deals, discounts and incentives on various Galapagos boats, for example, have never been so numerous, even to such extent as “2 for 1″ deals. How long this will hold really depends on the market. If the demand remains low, the deals will keep coming.
SOURCE: Article from David Braun, News Editor of National Geographic News Watch
Photo courtesy of Gabriele Gentile
An adult male of the pink iguana from the Galápagos on the rim of the crater of Volcan Wolf. The newly recognized species of iguana may already be endangered and could become extinct, scientists warn.
Had Charles Darwin explored the Volcan Wolf volcano when he visited the Galápagos in 1835 he might have spotted this pink land iguana, a species that originated in the islands more than five million years ago.
The northernmost volcano on the island of Isabela is the only home of the “rosada” iguana, a newly identified species of the land iguana Conolophus, scientists said today.
“Rosada” is the word for pink in Spanish. The two other known land species of iguana in the Galápagos, one of them also living on Isabel, are yellow.
Although Darwin noticed and commented on both marine and land iguanas of the Galápagos, he did not encounter a distinct form of land iguana that occurs only on Volcan Wolf, Gabriele Gentile of the Universitá Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, and colleagues, reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.
“Perhaps even more surprising, this [rosada species of iguana]…remained unrecorded despite many other scientists having visited Volcan Wolf over the past century,” they wrote.
Adult male iguanas of the yellow (A and D) and rosada (B and C)) species
Photographs by Gabriele Gentile, as published in PNAS paper
Genetic analysis of the rosada and other species of land iguanas performed by the scientists show that the rosada iguana diverged from the Galápagos’s other iguana populations more than five million years ago, when the archipelago was still forming.
Earlier genetic studies suggest that the split of the marine and land iguana lineages could have occurred as late as 10.5 million years ago, when the archipelago did not have the current configuration and none of the present islands had yet emerged, the paper noted.
“The ancient divergence between the rosada and other land iguanas — prior to the formation of the Volcan Wolf volcano — provides evidence for one of the most ancient diversification events recorded in the Galápagos,” the researchers said.
“Despite the attention given to them, the Galápagos have not yet finished offering evolutionary novelties,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
They called for efforts to conserve the new species before it becomes extinct.
Welcome to Sangay Touring‘s BLOG page
Ecaudor, Peru & Galapagos Travel Specialists
…. here you will find news, offers and other dynamic travel-related material.
