Let me state right off that while you can bring a tripod to the Galapagos  you won't always be able to use it There are a number of reasons for this  but the real problem is that your land time is generally only a small fraction of the day—using a tripod on a boat doesn't always work (the boat is rocking  so it'll only steady the view of things on the boat)  and you don't want to be grappling with your tripod if your tour group is moving quickly on a visitation site  as sometimes is the case