The least populated and least visited of the Galápagos’ four inhabited islands, Isla Floreana makes an ideal timeout from tourism. With no airport, access to the island is by sea only, and ferries run according to demand, two or three times weekly. Life here moves as languidly as the marine iguanas sunning at the pier, which is to say that it may seem not to move at all.

You get a real sense of the solitude and hardscrabble tenacity of the first inhabitants of the Galápagos on Floreana, historically a stopping point for sailors seeking fresh water, an island exile for at least one wayward pirate, and a would-be utopia for intrepid homesteaders.

Floreana has basic accommodations and dining, besides which there’s little in the way of tourism infrastructure or activities. I loved meandering the beachside lava trails, dipping into beautiful snorkelling spots to swim with sea lions, and hopping the twice-daily truck going into the not-very-high highlands to the forested tortoise sanctuary and dripping springs at Asilo de la Paz. Reach out to local accommodations with proposed dates, and they will be able to help make ferry arrangements; you’ll likely have to stay at least two nights before the next boat back to Isla Santa Cruz.