Nothing beats experience when learning and understanding something. I had the fortunate privilege to visit the Galápagos Islands for three weeks in the Summer of 2018. I had been living in Ecuador for four years at this point, and I had been saving and planning for one of my dream adventures that entire time.

My experience shattered all expectations I had about this legendary archipelago. All of my studies of evolution finally *clicked* together. Being able to step foot on six of the volcanic islands and feel how different the climates were, compare the amount of soil and vegetation, and see the variety in the types of habitats that can support life made what I had previously only read in a textbook make sense. 

The amount of animals you see on land, in the air and underwater is overwhelming, on top of how near to them you end up getting. I lived in Ecuador during the very strong El Niño event in 2016, and the population of sea lions was still recovering from the major die-off event from a decrease in their food from the warmer ocean temperatures; learning this during my trip helped me understand and remember the process and effects of this type of disruption much better.