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ow do you approach a 500-pound, 200-year-old Galápagos tortoise?

With humility and deference. The noontide iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and waved albatross, however, don't stand on formality (they've seen our kind before). As for the seals, they're positively delighted at the sight of you. This is, after all, their playground.

Welcome to the planet's greatest living laboratory. Dozens of species of fish, reptiles, and plants that in all the world can only be found here on these 19 islands and 42 islets. Time to witness Darwin's theory firsthand (outside the boardroom) 160-odd years after he first laid eyes on those fateful finches.

We travel on the Isabela II, a 40-passenger yacht that reminds us of a comfortable floating hotel, and make our landings by pangas (rubber boats). A seasoned crew of 24, (more than one for every two travelers) take care of our every desire, and three naturalists see to our enlightenment and education.

Meander the archipelago. First Baltra Island, then North Seymour, Santa Cruz, Floreana, Tower, Fernandina, Isabela, James, Bartolomé islands. Snorkel or explore the ocean like a wannabee Jacques Cousteau — aboard our glass-bottom boat. Pack your water shoes; we make plenty of wet landings along our route. (You didn't think there were docks everywhere, did you?)

As for the mandatory mainland visit in Ecuador to Quito, the nation's colonial capital, we must content ourselves with the curiosities of men. Such is evolution.

Galápagos. 11 Days of Tropical Phenomena.