In the Galápagos Islands, tourism has been the main industry for the 30,000 people who live across five inhabited islands in the archipelago. 

In a world straining under humanity's footprint, it is one of the last few places where you can see a glimpse of what life was like before human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet's ecosystem. A thousand kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, the archipelago has dozens of species of animals and plants found nowhere else on the planet.

But the COVID-19 pandemic put an abrupt stop to the flow of tourists and along with it the main source of income for many islanders. 

Official figures from the Galápagos National Park show tourist numbers of more than 270-thousand in 2019 dropped by 73% in 2020.

CGTN's Dan Collyns visited the unique island chain and has the story.