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| Darwin 200: The Galapagos Islands | Darwin 200: The Galapagos Islands |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Two hundred years on from the birth of Charles Darwin, our science correspondent David Shukman travels to the Galapagos Islands where the great 19th Century figure made observations critical to his theory of evolution. | Two hundred years on from the birth of Charles Darwin, our science correspondent David Shukman travels to the Galapagos Islands where the great 19th Century figure made observations critical to his theory of evolution. |
| IN DARWIN'S FOOTSTEPS - MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY | IN DARWIN'S FOOTSTEPS - MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY |
| My luggage is heavy: like many visitors clambering off the plane, I've brought a small Darwin library including The Voyage of the Beagle and On the Origin of Species. | My luggage is heavy: like many visitors clambering off the plane, I've brought a small Darwin library including The Voyage of the Beagle and On the Origin of Species. |
| You don't view wildlife here, you mingle with it | You don't view wildlife here, you mingle with it |
| One risk, just below the equator, is sunburn. Another is pretentiousness: I can't be the first to feel the constant temptation to compare the great man's observations with mine. | One risk, just below the equator, is sunburn. Another is pretentiousness: I can't be the first to feel the constant temptation to compare the great man's observations with mine. |
| Here goes anyway. | Here goes anyway. |
| At first, everything is disappointingly normal: a small airport on flat scrubby land, not a creature to be seen, and the massed beeping of mobile phones successfully finding a signal. | At first, everything is disappointingly normal: a small airport on flat scrubby land, not a creature to be seen, and the massed beeping of mobile phones successfully finding a signal. |
| Darwin was disappointed for rather different reasons - "nothing could be less inviting", he wrote about his first sight of "stunted, sunburnt brushwood". | Darwin was disappointed for rather different reasons - "nothing could be less inviting", he wrote about his first sight of "stunted, sunburnt brushwood". |
| It's the hot season, which means it's probably wise to avoid the hottest terrain, the black wastelands of the lava fields. I somehow find myself in amongst them at noon. | It's the hot season, which means it's probably wise to avoid the hottest terrain, the black wastelands of the lava fields. I somehow find myself in amongst them at noon. |
| The sun scorches from above and the dark rocks blast heat from below. The word "sauna" leaps into my overheated mind. | The sun scorches from above and the dark rocks blast heat from below. The word "sauna" leaps into my overheated mind. |
| Darwin's thermometer could record up to 137F (58C) but he was convinced the temperature was higher. Even in thick boots, he found the black sand was "disagreeable to walk over". | Darwin's thermometer could record up to 137F (58C) but he was convinced the temperature was higher. Even in thick boots, he found the black sand was "disagreeable to walk over". |
| I cool down with an iced drink. I hear snoring from a wooden bench nearby: a sea lion is sprawled on it, twitching in its sleep, unfazed. A marine iguana casts a glance at me but does not leave. | I cool down with an iced drink. I hear snoring from a wooden bench nearby: a sea lion is sprawled on it, twitching in its sleep, unfazed. A marine iguana casts a glance at me but does not leave. |
| You don't view wildlife here, you mingle with it. | You don't view wildlife here, you mingle with it. |
| And this has not changed since Darwin's time. He noted the "extreme tameness" of the birds, not yet "adapted to the stranger's craft or power". | And this has not changed since Darwin's time. He noted the "extreme tameness" of the birds, not yet "adapted to the stranger's craft or power". |
| As I put Origin of Species on my bedside table, I push aside the remote control for the air conditioning. I could never endure five years on a tiny sailing ship, but surely, in a brave spirit of solidarity, I can choose to sleep without chilled air? | |
| Not for long. I wake up baking, reach for that remote and read how "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved". Until the room cools down. | Not for long. I wake up baking, reach for that remote and read how "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved". Until the room cools down. |
| Text by David Shukman and photographs by Mark Georgiou. | Text by David Shukman and photographs by Mark Georgiou. |