The Galapagos are a series of islands formed by volcanoes off the coast of Ecuador. The first islands are at least 8 million years old, and could be significantly older. The oldest islands have since fallen under the sea. The newest islands (Isabella and Fernandina) in the west are still erupting. The Nazca tectonic plate is moving southeast, subducting the South American plate. This is pushing up the Andes mountain range as well as creating the Galapagos.
Sometimes plumes punch through the mantle, creating underwater volcanoes. These are what created the lava islands. As the islands move east with the plate, they move off of the hot spots, stop growing, and begin eroding. And new islands start to form over the hot spots.
The Spanish discovered the islands in 1535 when sailors trying to reach Peru were blown off course. The lack of fresh water on the islands was off-putting and the islands were used as a pit stop for whalers and pirates for years after that but never permanently settled. Visitors to the Galapagos would use the tortoises as a source of fresh protein because they could keep them alive on the ship until it was time for them to become dinner.
Author and researcher Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos Islands in 1835 and spent about five weeks there. At first he was fascinated by the volcanoes and rock formations, but then he noticed that the finches varied on the different islands. He ended up only directly observing a few of the 14 species that were discovered. He also noticed differences in the shells of the tortoises.
From then until the time the islands became a national park in 1959, the Galapagos were used for a variety of things. The United States had a naval base on one of the islands during World War II, and Ecuador considered selling the islands to alleviate financial issues. Tourism began in the 1950s and the Ecuadorian government started protecting the islands shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, the protection met with resistance because the Galapagos Islands could be an extremely lucrative fishing and farming location. Apparently as recently as the 2000s, there have been conflicts between the locals and park officials. Tortoise kidnappings, too.
Currently, most of the Galapagos islands are protected by the Ecuadorian government. They regulate the boats that travel the islands, providing them with strict schedules and carefully monitoring the amount of time and number of people who visit a set of specified locations. Each boat has to have an approved naturalist guide who is in charge of enforcing the regulations to protect the boat.