Home • Galapagos • Useful Links

Here are some places to get started learning about the Galápagos Islands:

Galápagos Islands

• Galápagos Conservancy - a great starting point for learning about the islands 
• FUNDAR-Galápagos - a sustainable development organization in Galápagos and our
collaborators in the Santa Cruz highlands 
• Galápagos National Park 
• Charles Darwin Foundation 
• Galápagos Conservation Trust  
• Current and forecasted Galápagos weather 

Mainland Ecuador

• Bellavista Cloud Forest - Forest conservation and educational reserve 

Maps and Land Forms

• Natural History and Earth Science - specific to the Galápagos 
• Underwater photos - full-color: with photos and descriptions

Books

We suggest the following books to help prepare for a trip to the Galápagos :

Weiner, Jonathan. Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. 1994. Vintage Books, USA.
This book follows two scientists as they study the ongoing evolution of finch beaks in the Galápagos Islands. An amazing true story of witnessing evolution happening on a human time scale.

Swash, Andy, and Rob Still. Birds, Mammals and Reptiles of the Galápagos Islands.
2000. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
This easy to read guide with full-color pictures is the first comprehensive guide to the birds, mammals, and reptiles of the Galápagos . It is an excellent, pocket-size tool for identification of Galápagos fauna.

Darwin, Charles. Voyage of the Beagle. 1839. Penguin Group, London.
The engaging five-year journey of naturalist Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle unfolds in his own journal. The text in historically significant and gives insight into the patience, observations, and learning process of a young man who transformed himself into a sharp naturalist in the Galápagos .

Constant, Pierre. The Galapagos Islands. 2000. Odyssey Publications Ltd., Hong Kong. Constant is a leading expert naturalist on the Galápagos Islands. This informational book is full of wonderful images and descriptions of the geology and natural history of the islands.

Jackson, Michael. Galapagos: A Natural History. 1994. Michigan State University Press, Michigan.
Jackson's book is preferred by most professionals and scientists, though the pictures aren't as good as Constant.

Oxford, Peter, and Renee Bish. Galápagos: The Untamed Isles. 1999. Natural Highlights Publishing, Quito.
Great pictures, and an engaging natural history of the islands. A compact guide to the evolution, history, flora and fauna of the island; available online.

Fitter, Julian, Daniel Fitter and David Hosking. Wildlife of the Galapagos. 2002. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
This is one of the most comprehensive guidebooks in terms of information about the flora and fauna of the archipelago.

Castro, Isabel and Antonia Philips. A Guide to the Birds of the Galápagos Islands. 1997. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
If birds are your thing, don't leave home without this book. This book contains excellent drawings and info on birds and the islands, in a place where the birds are among the most unique in the world.

McMullen, Conley. Flowering Plants of the Galápagos. 1999. Cornell University Press, New York. 
A detailed yet concise description of the flora found in the Galapagos.

For more books on the Galápagos, click here.