It’s all a globetrotter can do these days… watch Around the World in Eighty Days on TV which is timely as today 190 years Darwin ago set out on his own global journey.
Took him a bit longer to get around Earth (five years) than oul’ Phileas Fogg.
And barring stopping the assassination of the French President and saving a podgy Italian kid’s life (OK, I’ve only finished the first episode) it just seems to be jolly japes.
Darwin, for his part, unveiled the Evolution of the Species.
Tortoises and slow tourism
And met the Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos.
Now you can be doing without spending five years on the choppy high seas aboard the Beagle (and yes we know it has long since been scrapped although the site of its last home in Rochford is marked).
Instead get on a G Adventures trip to the islands off the western coast of South America.
Where our pals tell us that there is a nine-day trip from Ecuador from £1,499 which is a saving of £500.
And furthermore they’ll take care of your flight bookings in and out of Quito — with the cheapest flight cost possible.
In the pink with the flamingoes
You’ll get to see the flamingoes… and believe me you’ll be in the pink as I was in Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Hike up Sierra Negra volcano… tick, again done in Tenerife, but there’s always more.
Like Tenerife Galapagos boasts black beaches.
I’m reminded too of my pal from my Greek Odyssey, Gullaume Le Roux who only stayed overnight in the crater of a volcano!
What’s special about G Adventures is how much they put back into the local community.
As I saw fist hand in Jordan.
And here you’ll get to put something back in the supported community guesthouse in Floreana
In the slow lane
The highlight of your stay will be on Day Six.
Firstly, you’ll view breeding white-tip reef sharks, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, rays, and penguins.
And that’ll prepare you for a unique experience, a visit to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre.
Darwin’s odyssey
And here is a rundown of Charlie Boy’s five-year journey…
Chapter I: St. Jago–Cape de Verde Islands (St. Paul’s Rocks, Fernando Noronha, 20 Feb.., Bahia, or San Salvador, Brazil, 29 Feb..)
II: Rio de Janeiro
III: Maldonado
IV: Río Negro to Bahia Blanca
V: Bahía Blanca
VI: Bahia Blanca to Buenos Aires
VII: Buenos Aires to St. Fe
VIII: Banda Oriental
IX: Patagonia
And there’s more
X: Santa Cruz–Patagonia
XI: Tierra del Fuego
XII: The Falkland Islands
XIII: Strait of Magellan
XIV: Central Chile
XV: Chiloe and Chonos Islands
XVI: Chiloe and Concepcion
XVII: Passage of Cordillera
XVIII: Northern Chile and Peru
XX: Tahiti and New Zealand
XXI: Australia (Van Diemen’s Land)
XXII: Coral Formations (Keeling or Cocos Islands)
XXIII: Mauritius to England
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