Galapagos Islands

I received this postcard in the mail yesterday, sent by my friend Carolyn, from the Galapagos Islands. 

                                                             

Most school children learn that the Galapagos Islands were the inspiration for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, although the natural selection part of said theory is often left out of the discussion.  What they might not learn is that there are 15 major and three minor islands comprising this equator-straddling volcanic archipelago.  Many of the islands were originally named by the bucaneer Ambrose Cowley after "some of his fellow pirates or after the English noblemen who helped his cause", but more recently were assigned Spanish names by the Ecuadorean government.  Many visitors, especially ecological researchers, continue to use the English names as those were the names used when Darwin visited.

The Galapagos is one of too many world heritage sites in danger of being both loved and exploited to death.  Interesting to read that there are 700 non-native species on the islands, introduced either intentionally or not, compared to 500 native species.  For example, "in 1959, fishermen introduced one male and two female goats to Pinta island; by 1973 the National Park service estimated the population of goats to be over 30,000 individuals."   Wow.  That's some population explosion!  Imagine what it does to the native plants and animals.

Althought it doesn't say, the picture on the postcard is most likely a Marine Iguana (as opposed to the Galapagos Land Iguana).  The Marine Iguanas are not found anywhere else on earth, and when Charles Darwin encountered them he described them as follows:  "The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit."  Pretty harsh description for an ocean-going, green algae eating lizard.  I think its picture is cute, in a reptilian sort of way.

Quilotoa Crater, Ecuador

This postcard comes from one of my book club buddies, who spent some time in Ecuador this summer. It shows Quilotoa Crater, the western most volcano in the Ecuadorean Andes. I forget that the Andes in South America have a chain of volcanoes which are just a continuation of the chain of volcanoes in North America. It makes sense - they are part of the Pacific Ocean "ring of fire" - but these volcanoes aren't the first that come to my mind.

In any case, it appears to be an emerging tourist hot spot, with a beautiful green lake and a hike around the rim of the crater. There is a eco-lodge nearby, The Black Sheep Inn, where my friend must have stayed. Check it out - the lodge looks great, and the nearby hiking sounds even better. It also appears to be for sale. Anybody up for the innkeeper business in Ecuador?

Ecuador and Argentina seem to be the hot tourist places this year. I must know five or six people who have traveled to Ecuador and another six or seven who visited Argentina. Travel in these countries has changed a lot since I traveled through them 30 years ago - there was no such thing as an eco-lodge!