Located 600 nautical miles off the coast of Ecuador the Galápagos Islands are a world apart from any other place on Earth. The flight from Quito is unremarkable but as soon as the plane lands on the Islands you know that you are in a different world.
“The Galapagos Islands are probably the most famous wildlife-watching destination in the world. And no wonder – it’s almost impossible to exaggerate the sheer spectacle of the place that provided inspiration for Charles Darwin’s ground-breaking theory of natural selection.” – Mark Carwardine
Upon landing on the tarmac in Baltra, the airlines spray the inside of the cabin while passengers are still seated, to kill any invasive species — a dubious welcome but one that reminds you of the special nature of the place where you are about to set foot.
The Great Frigate birds soaring overhead like prehistoric black pterodactyls situated against the cloudy blue sky of the equator first greets you as you leave the comfortable feeling of the airport behind. This was just the beginning of an amazing journey.
The Galápagos are an archipelago of 20 islands, originally called the Enchanted Islands, and made famous by Charles Darwin, who visited the islands in 1835, later formulating his theory of evolution based on his trip (more about this in my second post). Still, no one took much interest in them until World War II, when the United States opened an Air Force base on Seymour North, also known as Baltra (now where most travelers arrive on the islands). The name ‘galapagos’, an old Spanish word for ‘saddle’, was originally used by Bishop Tomas and his crew to describe the giant tortoises but the name stuck.
In 1959, the Government of Ecuador, having annexed the islands in 1832, woke up to their tourist potential, declared all uninhabited areas of Galapagos a national park and got serious about their conservation. The Galápagos is second only to the Great Barrier Reef National Park of Australia in terms of the size of marine area protected (80,780 miles).
The Galápagos National Park Service is the main government authority that oversees the safeguarding of the islands’ natural resources. In 1978 UNESCO designated Galápagos as the first World Heritage site and the Galapagos Marine Reserve received the same status in 1998.
Galápagos tourism is tricky and it’s getting trickier. The popularity of the islands as a tourism destination has skyrocketed over the last few decades. With more and more people arriving each year, it is incumbent upon Ecuador and the travel industry to meet the conservation challenges head on. There is a developed training program for all guides on the islands and all tourists must be accompanied by a guide when visiting. Our local guide Fabri was excellent – having grown up on the islands he was not only a wealth of knowledge but the very best advocate for protection of these fragile resources.
It is surprising to some (me included) that there are actually several towns on the Islands and over 25,000 folks make their home there. The Galapagos Islands are one of the few places in the world without a native population. It is a mix of Ecuadorian Mestizos, Spanish descendants, American descendants, and others and it seems that many of them have grown up on the islands living alongside the animals and the hordes of tourists. While most of the population is Catholic their church reflects their connection to the land and the animals. Under the alter you find a statue of a Giant Tortoise and beautiful stained glass windows highlight the unique animals found there.
“The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are.”-
In the last few years, land-based tourism has overtaken boat-based tourism as the most popular way to see the islands. This has brought on a whole new set of challenges. Boat-based tourism was pretty much the only game in town for a long time and it’s pretty well managed. There are a certain number of boats that are allowed to operate and they are only allowed to go to certain places at certain times as regulated by the National Park Service (this is fortunate for many reasons). Overseas Adventure Travel contracts with a local company to provide the boat and crew for our 4 night/5 day adventure. The 14 of us (plus our guide) loaded on to our temporary home, a 80’ Catamaran, shortly after arriving in the Galápagos. The ship and the crew were exemplary, the itinerary (set by the Park Service) was a great introduction to the islands.
“I have no problem with the adventure travel movement. It makes better, more sensitive people. If you get people diving on a coral reef, they’re going to become more respectful of the outdoors and more concerned with the threats that places like that face and they’re going to care more about protecting them than they would have before.” – Tim Cahill
Our five days aboard the Archipell II were filled with wondrous excursions to three of the islands. Each day we had the opportunity to snorkel in different locations enjoying the unique life under the waters surface. Every location revealed different inhabitants of the islands ocean environment from the Sea Turtles, Octopus and Sea Stars to my favorite the Marine Iguana that feeds on the algae located on the rocks underwater.
When we were not under the water we explored on land, taking the inflatable boats from our home on the water to various island locations.
As a small, oceanic archipelago the Galápagos Islands are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. El Nino events, which are characterized by weak ocean currents, warmer sea temperatures and heavy rains, are of particular concern, as they are becoming much stronger as the global temperatures rise. One of the effects of El Nino is nutrient poor water around the islands, which results in fewer fish and less food to go around for species like the critically endangered flightless cormorant, which is endemic to the islands.
“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” – Carl Sagan
El Nino events also cause some birds, such as blue-footed boobies, to abandon their breeding colonies. Warmer temperatures also may affect the islands’ famed species of iguanas by disrupting their ability to regulate their body temperatures. Heavy rains brought upon by El Nino can wash away giant tortoise eggs and kill native plant species as well. Finally, wetter weather can create ideal conditions for some harmful invasive insect species to proliferate. Bottom line is that climate change has real effects on the world and in a place as unique as the Galápagos very permanent consequences.
I’m not even sure how to describe my visit to the Galápagos – although it sounds cliché to say “life changing” that is exactly what it was. To experience this diverse and dynamic ecosystem was jaw-dropping.
If there is ever a place where you can feel one with the earth and the environment this is it. A visit will develop, or for some renew, your desire to be a positive force for change in the fragile world we call home.
“The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.” —Lady Bird Johnson
The Galápagos Islands are filled with animals that have developed adaptions to their environment and live only on this one place on earth but also interesting is the behavior of the animals around the human visitors. Generation after generation of Galápagos animals have become accustomed to having no worries about predators, and that includes the human kind. We as human beings without even thinking about it consider ourselves as the top of the food chain (in most cases anyway) and we have become accustomed to having “wild” animals run from us when we invade their space. While this might keep both them and us safe from harm, I believe it creates in us the feeling of superiority where we tend to “look down on” other species and many times treat them in deplorable ways. In the Galápagos there is a constant feeling of equalness (is that really a word?) or harmony among the species as they co-exist in these naturally remote islands off the coast of Ecuador and this includes the human visitors to the islands.
“Extreme tameness…is common to all the terrestrial species…A gun is here superfluous; for with the muzzle I pushed a hawk off the branch of a tree.” – Charles Darwin
At one point on Fernandina Island we sat down on the shore with our guide and had the opportunity to just be a part of the environment. All around us, as close as 3 feet away at times, Marine Iguanas basked and spit into the sun, baby Sea Lions frolicked and hollered at their mothers while Sea Turtles poked their heads out of the water and hundreds of Sally-lightfoot Crabs scurried across the rocks sometimes climbing over the seemingly unconcerned Iguanas. To them we were just another neighbor in their very diverse neighborhood. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could adopt this in our everyday lives, where we wouldn’t judge our neighbors based on their beliefs or how they look or even what species they were. Coexist – it is possible – they do it on the Galápagos Islands.
“The good man is the friend of all living things.” —Gandhi
More Galápagos thoughts and photos in the next post…….
Ok, I’m hooked. This place is next on my trip list. Thanks for the great pictures and narrative.