On 27 December 1831, the twenty-two year old Charles Darwin left Devonport in England on board His Majesty's survey ship "The Beagle", beginning a five year voyage of global circumnavigation that was to change his life and ours beyond recognition. A poor student, of medicine at Edinburgh, and subsequently of divinity at Cambridge, his dream was to explore the natural world in general and the tropical vegetation of the Canary Isles in particular. It was Adam Sedgwick, his naturalist companion in Cambridge, who had excited him about the Canaries. When he found that he was unable to accompany Darwin there on a private visit as he had hoped, he recommended the young Darwin to Captain FitzRoy of "The Beagle" who was looking for a traveling companion. Yet, when "The Beagle" arrived in Tenerife, a very seasick Charles Darwin was not allowed off the ship. A cholera outbreak in Great Britain meant that the ship was held in quarantine and Darwin's first landfall was delayed until Cape Verde Islands.
We expect to arrive at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, the largest of the Canary Islands, early in the morning on Tuesday, some 36 hours away. We also fully expect to be allowed ashore after over a week on board for a full day of exploration. Darwin's cabin aboard "The Beagle" was the tiny chart room that had one of the ship's masts running through its middle. Here on board the Caledonian Star our spacious library enables us to consult maps and works of reference in much greater comfort but in the same spirit of adventure: "Where shall we travel next once this voyage is over?"
