Galapagos Islands

Today we make a trip leaving Quito very early in the morning to head to the Galapagos Islands which while they are still considered part of Ecuador, they are over 1200 km away from Quito. Our luggage is scanned very carefully and sealed as we head to these islands which are a highly protected sanctuary. Our flight is 2.5 hours and school has just ended in Quito and our flight is over half full of very excited children under 12 who are very loud and under supervised. The flight does not end soon enough. We get off and are screened once again and our entry taxes confirmed. Cost is about $100/day for foreigners arriving by plane. The cost for those who arrive on their persoanl luxury boats is about $1000/per person/ per day. We board a bus that takes us to the edge of the island the airport is on, board a ferry for 10 mins then board another bus that drives us the length is Santa Cruz Island to the end that has the town site and hotels. It's about a 40 min drive .

We meet our two new tour guides for the day, Farydde and Isabella who orient us to island through out the afternoon. We visit craters that are so deep you cannot see the bottom though they are filled with vegetation. These craters have an effect of the weather patterns on the island. We drive by trees loaded with mandarin oranges, grapefruit and lemons. The cool season has begun so weather tends to be overcast, a stable 20- 22 degrees with light rain occassionally. Most of the rain comes in the warm season ( dec - april) so begitation has begun to dry andnturn brown. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we walk to the Darwin exploration centre which has been focusing on reestablishing the tortoise population. Prior to the late 18 C there were approximately 250,000 of Toroises populating the various island and about 15 species. When protection and a hatchery were established to try and reverse the empending distinction, the total population was down to about 16000, 4 species were extinct, and another had only 14 left of its species. With the result of some remarkable research and diligence, they have managed to bring the total population up to 60,000 and even the threatened population of 14 has been brought up to 1200.

What is most interesting to me about this is that decimation of the tortoise population occurred mostly as a result of the pirate and other large ships that stopped here at the beginning of the 19th century who would take these large creatures to serve as fresh food for the long voyages. They can live for up to 6 mos without food so provided what seemed like a splendid option for ships without refrigeration. However, the cost and the work of trying to repair this "overuse" fell to people several generations later. I am so fearful about what our current generations blindness about nature and the unfaithful stewardship practices that we have employed will become huge costs and burdens for generations after ours. The resources used by the populations of the 19th C were but a fraction of the mammoth appetite we currently have. I weep for the continuing legacy that we are leaving them.

The interplay between the environment and the ecological balance is certainly an interesting thing. Some species that were introduced by the domestication of these islands several centuries ago also affect the natural balance. Some of the greatest threats are rats which came on the ships, and pigs, cats and dogs that are feral and are unnatural predictors. Some things that get introduced by nature result in adaptations and some don't . Same goes for the human footprint. Visiting nature where things have been preserved and humans can leave and take mostly photos results in creatures that function quite well and seem to both tolerate and ignore human beings presence. That has been cool to see. And amazing to see what we can learn by observing rather than consuming nature. An important lesson to be learned for sure.