Galapagos Island History of Discovery

The Galapagos Islands were discovered in 1535 by the Bishop of Panama, Fray Tomas de Berlanga. This was the time of the Spanish exploration and discovery, but Berlanga was not an explorer, he was delegated to investigate the accounts of the barbaric actions of the conquistadors in what is now Peru, but during his voyage his ship was caught in a dead calm and drifted westward in the ocean currents.

Berlanga considered the islands useless, describing them as uninhabited, with the only presence of birds, seals and reptiles, the land was barren and useless, because you even couldn't grew a plant in it. When Berlanga saw the islands, his ship had water sources for two days. The Bishop and crew searched the new islands for fresh water, almost entirely in vain.

After a few days the found fresh water in a spring among the rocks. (later it was discovered that following the trail of the turtles it was possible to find fresh water in the highlands). Also Berlanga's Crew found another way to get water by extracting it from the native cactus. Two men and ten horses died of thirst before the fresh water could reach the ship.

In his briefing to the King of Spain he explained about the strange and foolishly tame wildlife and the numerous galapagos (giant tortoises), and the name stuck. The islands appeared on the map late in the 16th century as the "Insulae de los Galopegos."

It is possible that the islands could be discovered 60 years before, by the Inca King Tupac Yupanqui. As an Inca historian reports about Yuoanqui's voyages and the discovery of two "Islands of Fire". Although it could be true, there are several inconsistencies in the story that also brings on mind the what Yupanqui really discovered were the Easter Islands.

Pirates

The fabulous wealth of the growing Spanish Empire caught the attention of Spain's European rivals, who wanted to limit Spanish power and grab some of the wealth for themselves. The English gave a sort of support to pirates and buccaneers who sacked Latin American ports and seized galleons by not persecuting them.

The Galapagos where not far away from the route used by the conquerors to take out all the treasures and resources from the formerly Inca Empire up to Panama and Mexico, which it was the center of operations of Spanish activity in the New World.

Early in the 16 th century the Galapagos were used by pirates and buccaneers as base and refuge after raids. They found fresh water and food, they even hunted the turtles for their meat, and sometimes they took them on board as a supply of fresh meat.

In the year 1684 a buccaneer named Ambrose Cowley, drew up the first map of the islands y he named every island with English names, today only Isabela keeps its original name given by the pirate.