Expedition Cruise ? What is it?
Recently I have found myself inquiring more and more about small group cruises. Something more intimate; with the feels of a big cruise line. But with those all so enticingly unique itineraries. Here ...
Read moreHow to become a travel agent in Galapagos Islands
At our Galapagos Islands based travel agency, we believe in empowering our travel agents with the knowledge and skills needed to excel. We provide comprehensive training programs that cover everything from industry basics to advanced booking systems and marketing strategies. Our ongoing support ensures you are never alone in your journey to success.
As part of our team, you'll have access to exclusive deals, industry resources, and cutting-edge technology. Our strong relationships with top travel suppliers mean you can offer your clients the best rates and packages available. Plus, our robust booking platform simplifies the process, allowing you to focus on what you do best – creating memorable travel experiences.
We understand the importance of work-life balance, which is why we offer flexible working arrangements. Whether you prefer to work from our Galapagos Islands office or remotely, we provide the tools and support to help you succeed. Our collaborative and inclusive work culture ensures you feel valued and motivated every day.
Being based in Galapagos Islands, gives us a unique advantage in understanding the local market. We pride ourselves on our deep connections within the community and our ability to provide personalized service to our clients. As a local travel agent, you’ll have the opportunity to leverage your knowledge of the Galapagos Islands area to build a loyal client base and make a meaningful impact.
Reach out to us via our website here: become a travel agent. Our friendly team is here to answer any questions you may have and guide you through the application process.
Submit your application through our online portal. We are looking for individuals who are passionate, driven, and excited about the travel industry. Be sure to highlight your relevant experience and any unique skills that set you apart.
Once your application is reviewed, we will invite you for an interview. Successful candidates will join our dynamic team of travel professionals and embark on a rewarding career path with endless possibilities.
Don’t miss the chance to join a leading travel agency in Galapagos Islands, where your passion for travel can transform into a successful career. Our supportive environment, extensive resources, and local expertise make us the perfect choice for aspiring travel agents. Apply today and start your journey with us!
Travel agent Galapagos Islands, Galapagos Islands travel agency, become a travel agent, local travel agents, travel careers Galapagos Islands, travel agent training, work from home travel agent, flexible travel jobs, Dallas travel opportunities, join travel agency.
Categories: Bolivar Canal
Categories: Champion Island
Categories: Floreana Island
Categories: Gardner Bay
Categories: Genovesa (Tower) Island
Categories: Highlands
Categories: Isla Baltra
Categories: Isla Bartolome
Categories: Isla Champión
Categories: Isla Daphne
Categories: Isla Darwin
Categories: Isla Edén
Categories: Isla Española
Categories: Isla Fernandina
Categories: Isla Guy Fawkes
Categories: Isla Isabela
Categories: Isla Lobos
Categories: Isla Mosquera
Categories: Isla Pinzon
Categories: Isla Rabida
Categories: Isla San Cristobal
Categories: Isla San Cristobal (Puerto Baquerizo Moreno)
Categories: Isla Santa Cruz
Categories: Isla Santa Fe
Categories: Isla Santa Maria
Categories: Isla Santiago
Categories: Isla Wolf
Categories: Itabaca Channel
Categories: James Island
Categories: North Seymour
Categories: Sombrero Chino Islets
We serve customers all over the USA! Contact us for a custom curated vacation package for your preferred dates, budget, airline & more.
Price: $155,950 - # of Days: 20 days
Wildlife and Natural Wonders of Central and South America
Inspiring landscapes and diverse wildlife encounters await on this expedition through Central and South America by private jet. Survey the grandeur of Iguaçu Falls and the mighty glaciers of Argentine Patagonia, meet the giant torto...
Penguins and dolphins, sea lions and iguanas, tropical birds and giant tortoises—this collection of species comes together in a single destination on the equator. It's no surprise that these islands, 600 mi/970 km off the coast of Ecuador, are so special. Their remoteness from other landmasses and the absence of human settlements until the past century allowed their animal inhabitants to live with little fear of predators. As a result, the islands have an abundance of animals, birds and reptiles that are easily viewed, with or without binoculars.
The islands are best known as the home of giant tortoises that can weigh up to 500 lb/227 kg and live over 100 years. Visitors will also see marine iguanas (the only seagoing lizards in the world); scarlet-breasted frigate birds; blue-footed, red-footed, masked and Nazca boobies; tiny penguins at home in the tropics; mammoth sea lions; and giant, graceful albatrosses. About half of the species are endemic to the islands, found nowhere else on Earth.
Volcanic in origin, the archipelago has 13 large (and six lesser) islands whose terrain is mostly stark and barren, consisting primarily of a lava rock- and cacti-filled landscape in an arid climate. However, the highlands of the larger islands are dominated by volcanos and cloud forests, with lush vegetation and cooler temperatures.
One of the most famous visitors was Charles Darwin, whose five-week stay in 1835 led him to note that some species of birds had changed both physically and behaviorally because of their environment and evolved into distinct species over time. His famous book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) and the theory of evolution were influenced greatly by what he saw there.
These days, most visitors see the islands as part of a cruise tour. Small boats, or pangas, drop travelers off on individual islands, where knowledgeable naturalists introduce the lifestyles and mating rituals of the native species. Swimming and snorkeling are possible at most sites and are often enhanced by curious sea lions, sea turtles, an occasional penguin and scores of tropical fish. The marine environment of the Galapagos is a protected area; it is one of the largest marine reserves in the world after the Great Barrier Reef and newer reserves in Antarctica and Hawaii.
Strict rules imposed by the Galapagos National Park require that licensed guides accompany all visitors and that visitors stick to the 60 designated sites on the islands, most of which are uninhabited. Visitors may walk only on marked trails and cannot touch or feed the animals, even though the animals often come close.
The Galapagos Islands lie 600 mi/970 km off the coast of Ecuador. Thirteen of the islands are larger than 6 sq mi/15 sq km, and the rest of the archipelago is made up of six smaller islands and more than 100 islets. The entire area (approximately 3,089 sq mi/8,000 sq km) straddles the equator, which passes directly through Isabela, the largest of the islands, representing more than half of the entire surface area of the islands combined.
The entire chain of islands is the result of volcanic activity. There is an oceanic "hot spot" where the islands of Fernandina and Isabela are now located and where all islands to the east once were. There, magma rises from the Earth's mantle to form the volcanic islands, some of which continue to be shaped by recent eruptions. As the Nazca plate moves slowly southeast, at approximately 1.6 in/4 cm per year, it takes the islands with it. Over time, this series of events has produced the current archipelago.
Because the Galapagos Archipelago is so far from other landmasses, the islands were ignored by humans for centuries. Tomas de Berlanga, a bishop of Panama in route to Peru, wrote the first account of the islands in 1535, telling the king of Spain he had seen tortoises big enough to carry a man. His tales put the islands on the map. European rivals of Spain, including British pirates, used the islands as a refuge in the 16th and 17th centuries in their attacks on the Spanish colonies in South America. Whalers also began using the islands in the late 1700s, where they, too, hunted tortoises and birds for food and seals for fur.
Years of human destruction of Galapagos fauna left fur seals nearly extinct and approximately 200,000 tortoises dead. At various times, sailors released goats onto some of the islands, which provided meat to passing ships but led to the elimination of many native Galapagos plants. Today, the tortoises, seals and other Galapagos animals are highly protected, but the eradication of goats is still in progress.
The islands' first known resident was Patrick Watkins, an Irish castaway who arrived on the island of Floreana in 1807. Watkins didn't stay long—only eight years—nor did many others, until Darwin arrived on the HMS Beagle in 1835. Darwin's writings about evolution stimulated interest in the islands among scientists, wealthy explorers and several groups of eccentrics.
Ecuador, which claimed the islands in 1832, officially designated about 97% of the islands a national park in 1959 to protect them from development. In 1978, UNESCO made the islands a World Heritage site. The Galapagos Marine Reserve was created in 1998; it is one of the world's largest after the Great Barrier Reef and recently created reserves in Antarctica and Hawaii.
The islands' growing popularity as an ecotourism destination has created its own set of problems. Since the 1970s, population growth on the islands has increased by 6.2% each year as the result of births and immigration. About 25,000 people, many of them impoverished Ecuadorians, now live on the islands. Many have moved there seeking a better life and jobs, at first in fishing but now in tourism. Along with them have come nonnative animals and plants that are altering the unique heritage of the islands.
The Ecuadorian government has taken steps to limit immigration and eradicate such animals as feral goats. It also regulates the number of visitors and the size of boats allowed to tour the islands. Fishing boats caught in park waters have been detained and their owners fined. But tensions run high in the islands regarding their management. There have been several strikes by fishermen, as well as by national park wardens. Many believe the Ecuadorean government is still falling short of adequately safeguarding this unique archipelago for future generations.
In March 2007, the same year the World Heritage Committee added the Galapagos to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in danger, the Ecuadorian government signed a national decree that declared the islands' management as a top priority, favoring its conservation and protection. Initial results are hard to quantify, but this step implies that stricter rules may be put into effect regarding development on the islands.
As it stands, permission is not required to build a hotel (hence the burgeoning size of Puerto Ayora), but tour operators must secure permits to enter the national park, which is managed by the Ministry of Tourism. Some boats are authorized to disembark onto various islands, but others must anchor in the waters offshore. As of 2012, no vessel is permitted to visit the same site more than once in a 14-day period. Illegal immigration to the islands, illegal fishing, introduced species and poor education of the local population remain dangers to the Galapagos.
British Capt. James Colnett set up a post office barrel on Floreana in 1873. It was originally used by whalers, who dropped their letters into the barrel as they went out to sea; the mail was relayed by those heading home. Today, this area is called Post Office Bay, and the barrel is often used by tourists.
The late Kurt Vonnegut wrote the novel Galapagos in 1985 about the last survivors of the human race being shipwrecked on the islands.
The Galapagos Islands is the only place where penguins live north of the equator. This makes the species the only tropical penguin on Earth.
There were once up to 15 subspecies of giant tortoises on the islands. Only 11 of those species remain.
The only nonflying cormorant in the world lives in the Galapagos Islands. It evolved to hunt fish by diving from shore and eventually lost the use of its wings for flight.
This entire island chain is named after the tortoise, which translates to "galapagos" in Spanish.
The archipelago was known as the Enchanted Islands because of the way strong and shifting currents made navigation difficult. After he visited the islands, Herman Melville used this name as the title of a short story he wrote about the Galapagos.
Vincent Vacations - Authorized Galapagos Islands Vacation Planner
Questions? Call us at
1 (888) 976-0061
For Groups of 10
or more rooms, or 8 or more Cabins, please use of Group Form
Click Here for our Group Department
Click on a location below to learn more. We recognize that vacations are not just an investment, but often the highlights of our lives, and we take that responsibility seriously. We want to ensure you have the best experience.
All of these are signs that you are a great fit to become an independent travel agent, and turn your love of travel from passion into profit!
Learn MoreOur motto at Vincent Vacations is, we go so you know! We want to ensure you have the BEST experience, whether it's a river cruise, or a corporate group incentive trip, we want to ensure your vacation is a success.
We serve customers all across the USA
Debt free and in business since 2013. Vincent Vacations has agents in Dallas, Kansas City, Houston, Shreveport, Little Rock, Roswell, Oklahoma City and more locations.
Travel agents can help save time and stress by doing the research and handling all your bookings for you. An experience travel agent is best at finding great deals and packages, as well as providing you with helpful information and tips. They can also help you plan special activities and experiences that you may not have thought of on your own. All in all, using a travel agent can be a great way to make sure you get the most out of your trip.
In travel since 2002, and in business since 2013, our travel team serves clients all over the US! Planning a vacation away from home takes a great team. We have taken the time to build a team of dedicated, smart, hard-working personnel who are each committed to excellence and service. We work side-by-side, creating and ensuring INCREDIBLE vacation experiences for you and your group. Our store front in-office team, and our travel consultant independent contractors, work all around the US.
In business since 2013, we are your #1 source for travel!
Free Vacation Package Quote