Galapagos, The Enchanted Isles, Travel there vicariously

I have always been mystified by the Galapagos Islands. Ever since I watched the documentary Life on Earth presented by Sir David Attenborough, where he traces the footsteps of Charles Darwin to introduce to his viewers to how Darwin could have formulated the Origin of the Species by observing the differences between the animals on the Galapagos and their relatives in South America. That first episode of Life On Earth got me hooked to the amazing wonder of how life came to be. Ever since then I've had a desire to go to the Galapagos, to see those marine iguanas, the blood thirsty mocking birds and flightless cormorants but have not done that pilgrimage yet.

It's not easy to get to the isolated Galapagos Islands, they are part of Ecuador, so to get there one has to get to Ecuador first, then get on a chartered yacht to cruise the 1000km to reach the islands. So its also expensive. Nevertheless thanks again to Sir David there is a documentary series the he wrote and presented on the Galapagos on 2013. I was surprised to find the series recently uploaded on Youtube. There is also another documentary The Magic of The Big Blue that shows off the Galapagos Islands splendidly, but David Attenborough's documentary is a class of its own. Shot in 3D, so the Youtube video is not so great with a dark shade, most likely because it is a 3D rip. Better to get the video on Amazon.

The Magic of the Big Blue - Galapagos

Galapagos 3D with David Attenborough

Even if the Galapagos videos are not clear on Youtube, Sir David's narration is as usual interesting and articulate. It makes you want to see all three parts. If you are like me, the pondering type who loves to introspect of the wonders of life, these videos are fodders for the imagination. The info is as what you would expect from a David Attenborough documentary–A Class.