The Galapagos is a group of 19 islands in the Pacific Ocean lying across the Equator. Part of the islands is now a wildlife sanctuary, but in 1994 disaster struck when mysterious fires broke out and giant tortoises were slaughtered. Along with a series of social disruptions organized by fishermen from the mainland coast of South America, various conservation organizations were taken over violently. The habitat and nesting sites of rare flightless cormorant and Galapagos penguins were trampled, and wild mangrove forests, home of the rarest of Darwin's finch species, were felled for firewood. The photographs in this book all date from the beginning of that year.