An archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos Islands are a province of Ecuador. Home to a national park and a marine reserve, the Galapagos Islands have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the richness and variety of their flora and fauna. The Galapagos Islands remain a difficult and expensive destination to access, but this helps to control the influx of tourists and their impact on the environment. Like something out of a Melville or Defoë adventure novel, the Galapagos Islands instantly evoke pure adventure... Also known as the "Colonial Archipelago", and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Galapagos Islands are a lost paradise where unparalleled flora and fauna flourish: who hasn't heard of its famous giant tortoises, marine iguanas, whales, sea lions, cormorants and penguins? The Galapagos archipelago is unique: volcanic islands, reefs and islets form an enchanted and preserved world that one would not think existed only 960 kilometres from the Ecuadorian coast!