TOMAS DE BERLANGA, BISHOP OF Panama, named them Las Encantadas--the Enchanted Isles--in 1535, and more than 4 1/2 centuries later, it's hard to argue with his view of the Galapagos archipelago. Even today, the cluster of islands, a province of Ecuador that lies some 600 miles off the South American coast, seems idyllic: the giant tortoises known as galapagos, which gave the islands their name, still amble across the scrubby landscape, sea-lion pups and Galapagos penguins gaze unafraid at scuba divers, marine iguanas crawl over volcanic rocks along the shore, and strolling tourists have to detour around blue-footed boobies (a type...
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