The Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador, are world famous for their sheltered ecosystem and their importance in Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection. In addition to this however they also make a great destination for avid stargazers; the majority of the islands are national park, recognised as a world heritage site and partly due to this the skies here experience almost no artificial light pollution. Another great feature is that the position of the islands at the equator allows an astronomer views of the features of both the northern and southern hemisphere's skies.

The Finch Bay Hotel on the island of Santa Cruz is an excellent gateway to the Galapagos, allowing you to design your own program for visiting and helping to facilitate that. The hotel also runs its own astronomy geared nights complete with tips on stargazing and laser-pointer guided sky shows.

Several companies in the area run boat tours and cruises that include nights spent stargazing, from the extremely laid back to the more educational.

This really is an exquisite, otherworldly destination both by day and night.

Written by  Anna Dejardin.

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