畅游加拉帕戈斯群岛，享受皇室待遇

前往加拉帕戈斯群岛最年轻（至少100万年历史）的费尔南迪纳岛，仿佛进入了被时间遗忘的角落。乘坐充气船，从唯一着陆点蓬塔·埃斯皮诺萨上岸，穿过海岸线上茂密的红树林，眼前是成百上千深灰色海鬣蜥熙熙攘攘，还能碰见它们雄赳赳地一起吐海水。

拉昆布雷火山是世界上最活跃的火山之一，过去50年里喷发了六次，火山几乎占据整座岛，涌动着岩浆的火山向四面八方蔓延。就在火山脚下，海狮在浅滩上击水玩耍，独特的叫声与拍击岸边的海浪声应和着。另一边，猩红色的细纹方蟹沿着暗黑色海岸线急速横行，而天上盘旋的加拉帕戈斯鹰正俯视一切。费尔南迪纳岛上从没出现过入侵物种，除了人类，所以这里的生态系统也是世界上最原始的之一。

说起远离尘嚣，很少有地方比得上加拉帕戈斯。群岛在太平洋上，距厄瓜多尔约600英里，包括20座火山岛（还有一些小岛），虽然每年接待超过20万游客，至今仍是未受污染的世外桃源。群岛上有不少全球仅有的物种，有大加拉帕戈斯龟、加拉帕戈斯雀（共有13个独有物种），还有加拉帕戈斯企鹅（世界第二小）。查尔斯·达尔文关于自然选择进化的开创性著作《物种起源》里介绍过该地，从此为人所知，近160年后加拉帕戈斯群岛成了物种保护的标志性地区。

这里也是积极且具有教育意义的度假之地。达尔文曾说：“哪怕只是浪费一个小时，也说明忽视生命的价值。”这句话道出了在加拉帕戈斯度假的精髓。无论是登顶巴尔托洛米岛观赏火星一般的地貌，探访加拉帕戈斯地标——方尖碑一般的尖礁，还是漫步在圣克鲁兹岛巴绍海滩迷人的白色沙滩，此处是绿海龟主要筑巢地点，亦或泛舟前往伊莎贝拉岛的海湾观察企鹅和棕色鹈鹕，从黎明到傍晚大部分时间都会很兴奋（不算悠闲午餐）。如果之前你没怎么锻炼，在这里能找回感觉。

ARRIVING ON FERNANDINA ISLAND, the youngest (at less than 1 million years old) and westernmost in the Galápagos, is like discovering a land that time forgot. Once you disembark from your inflatable panga at Punta Espinosa, its sole landing site, and make your way through the dense mangrove forest that fringes the coastline, you’re greeted by a colony of hundreds of charcoal-colored marine iguanas lounging atop one another and sneezing out salt water in a spirited chorus.

La Cumbre volcano, one of the world’s most active with six eruptions in the past 50 years, dominates the landscape, its rippled lava fields extending in every direction. In its shadow, sea lions splash in the shallows, their distinctive barks intermingled with the crashing waves, as scarlet Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttle along the ebony shoreline and Galápagos hawks survey the scene from above. No foreign species have ever invaded Fernandina—human visitors aside—making it one of the world’s most pristine ecosystems.

When it comes to far-flung escapes, few rival the Galápagos. Located in the Pacific Ocean some 600 miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador, the archipelago of 20 volcanic islands (and dozens more islets) remains an unspoiled utopia despite hosting more than 200,000 annual visitors. Home to a slew of species found nowhere else on earth—the giant Galápagos tortoise, the Galápagos finch (13 unique species in total), and the Galápagos penguin (the world’s second-smallest), to name a few—the islands endure as a beacon of the conservation movement nearly 160 years after the publication of Charles Darwin’s seminal treatise on evolution by natural selection, On the Origin of Species, put them on the proverbial map.

They’re also an exhilarating option for an active and educational adventure. Darwin once said, “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life,” which could well be the mantra of a Galápagos vacation. Whether you’re summiting the Mars-like terrain of Bartolomé Island—home to obelisk-shaped Pinnacle Rock, a Galápagos landmark—strolling the blinding white sands of Santa Cruz Island’s Bachas Beach, a prime nesting site for green sea turtles, or kayaking the coves of Isabela Island perusing penguins and brown pelicans, you’re largely in motion from dawn until cocktail hour (minus a leisurely lunch). If you’ve been neglecting your workouts, you’ll get back into your groove here.

如果你的日常生活缺乏惊喜，加拉帕戈斯则是完美补充。沿伊莎贝拉岛（最长之处为82英里）乌尔比纳湾附近的小径蜿蜒而行，很可能遇到好几只巨大的加拉帕戈斯龟四处溜达，不少都已年过百岁。也可以潜入原生态十足的伊莎贝拉岛塔霍斯湾海底，寻找钴蓝色海星和长着白色背鳍的珊瑚礁鲨鱼，还有加拉帕戈斯鸬鹚（世界上最大，也是唯一一种不会飞的鸬鹚），它们轻巧地潜入水中捕食午餐，然后钻回水面。一定要在西班牙岛加德纳海湾的沙滩上过上几晚，这可能是群岛上最棒的沙滩，数十只黄褐色海狮在清澈见底的海水里仰面朝天，身旁有人走过也毫不在意。

来到这里不仅要体验下大型岛屿的酒店，也要尝试下船宿，更好地探索多样生态。船基本上在晚上行驶，所以每天早上醒来都在新地方，开始全新旅程，不用把宝贵的白天时间花在旅途中。乘坐小型游艇的话，还可前往大船无法停靠的登陆点。

Or if it’s a sense of wonder that’s lacking from your daily routine, the Galápagos will replenish your reserves. Meander along the trails near Urbina Bay on Isabela Island (the largest at 82 miles long) and you’re likely to encounter at least a handful of giant Galápagos tortoises, many nearly a century old, as they mosey by. Snorkel to the bottom of Isabela’s pristine Tagus Cove in search of cobalt sea stars and white-tipped reef sharks alongside Galápagos cormorants (the world’s largest and only flightless cormorant) as they deftly dive for their lunch before rocketing back to the surface. And be sure to spend a couple of late-afternoon hours on the beach at Española Island’s Gardner Bay, perhaps the archipelago’s most dazzling stretch of sand, where dozens of tawny sea lions loll at the crystalline water’s edge, turning their whiskered faces upward, utterly unfazed, as you pass.

EXPLORING THIS TROVE of ecological treasures by live-aboard boat, vs. from a hotel on one of the larger islands, is essential: Since these ships move primarily by night, you wake each day in a new locale ready to jump right into the day’s itinerary, instead of frittering away valuable waking hours in transit. Smaller yachts also enjoy access to landing sites unavailable to larger cruise ships.

像许多绝美之地一样，加拉帕戈斯群岛面临着各种生存威胁。尽管1998年为保护岛屿周围的水域划定了5万平方英里保护区，但非法捕鱼十分猖獗。仅去年一年，就截获30多艘非法捕鱼船，其中一艘载有数万条鱼，有鲨鱼，也有其他种类。非法捕鱼导致海洋生态系统失衡，岛上标志性的蓝脚鲣鸟近年来数量明显减少。

随着越来越多游客前往观光，新物种进入的风险随之增加，也对岛屿生态造成威胁。一种入侵性寄生蝇就导致当地独有的红树林雀几乎灭绝，现在仅剩下约100只。科研非营利组织达尔斯·达尔文基金会跟加拉帕戈斯国家公园理事会一直在积极合作，努力保护群岛生态。最新进展是成功增加平塔岛、弗罗里亚纳和圣达菲岛上大型海龟的数量。如果想了解更多开创性行动，可以登录官网darwinfoundation.org。

如何前往

预定须知

接待《财富》杂志的Quasar Expeditions是一家家族持有旅行公司，成立于1986年。公司有两艘游艇，每天在群岛间往返七到八次。其中M/V Evolution游艇去年刚完成翻新，可搭载32位乘客。另一艘则是迷人的M/Y Grace号，前身是希腊船王亚里士多德·奥纳西斯送给好莱坞女星格蕾丝·凯利和摩纳哥王子雷尼尔亲王的结婚礼物，该船可载18位客人。两艘游艇均可出租。

前往加拉帕戈斯群岛

从陆地上厄瓜多尔首都基多和瓜亚基尔出发，每天都有不少航班。要从美国前往厄瓜多尔两座城市，可选择美国航空、美联航和哥伦比亚阿维安卡航空等航班。

去群岛前一晚

去加拉帕戈斯群岛探险之前务必休息好，基多历史中心完美改造的卡萨甘戈特纳酒店就是不二选择。1978年，基多被联合国科教文组织列入首批世界遗产。而该精品酒店巧妙融合了新古典主义和装饰派艺术元素，可俯瞰著名的旧金山广场，还能一览城市周边的火山。（财富中文网）

本文另一版本发表于2018年7月1日出版的《财富》杂志，标题为《厄瓜多尔的神奇岛屿》。

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

Like many extraordinary environments, the Galápagos face a litany of threats to their fragile existence. Though the 50,000-square-mile Galápagos Marine Reserve was designated in 1998 to protect the waters surrounding the islands, illegal fishing is rampant. Last year alone, more than 30 vessels, one of which contained tens of thousands of sharks and other fish, were captured within its bounds. The resulting imbalance in the marine ecosystem is already impacting the iconic blue-footed booby, whose population has decreased in recent years.

The risk of introduced species, which grows in step with increased tourist arrivals, also looms large. Presently, an invasive parasitic fly threatens to render the endemic mangrove finch—of which only an estimated 100 remain—extinct. The Charles Darwin Foundation, a scientific research nonprofit dedicated to preserving the Galápagos, and the Galápagos National Park Directorate continue to work together to protect the archipelago: Recent successes include the ongoing repopulation of giant tortoises on the islands of Pinta, Floreana, and Santa Fé. To learn more about these groundbreaking initiatives, visit darwinfoundation.org

If You Go

What to book

Quasar Expeditions, a family-owned company founded in 1986, hosted Fortune. It operates two small ships that each run seven-night expedition cruises in the Galápagos. The M/V Evolution, which was entirely refurbished last year, sleeps 32, while the charming M/Y Grace—¬a wedding gift to Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier from Aristotle Onassis in its former life—accommodates 18. Both yachts are available for charter.

Getting to the archipelago

There are multiple daily departures to the Galápagos from Quito and Guayaquil on mainland Ecuador. American Airlines, United, and Avianca, among others, fly regularly from the U.S. to both cities.

The night before

For a restful, refined stay before your Galápagos expedition, Casa Gangotena, a stunning converted mansion, is an unparalleled choice in the historic center of Quito, which was named the first Unesco World Heritage site in 1978. The boutique hotel, which melds neoclassical and Art Deco elements to exceptional effect, overlooks the famous Plaza San Francisco and the city’s surrounding volcanoes.

A version of this article appears in the July 1, 2018 issue of Fortune with the headline “Ecuador’s Enchanted Isles.”