Galapagos is a Garden of Eden

6/30/2022

Rosemary Ganley
The Peterborough Examiner
June 30, 2022

I decided, with this surprising gift of a degree from Trent on June 9, I would get scholarly for a while, really hands-on.

I have a granddaughter in Edmonton who is in animal health studies at the University of Alberta and, of course, along with her peers, hasn’t had much of a college experience for two years. She still is smiling.

So although I don’t know anything about turtles, and have never even had a dog as a pet; (in Africa, dogs were aggressive defenders of the household), and being ready for some adventure travel, I consulted with her and asked where in the world she’d most like to go.

The answer, of course, was to the astonishing Galapagos islands, an archipelago of 19 islands, most uninhabited, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador in South America.

They belong to Ecuador, and they are being managed with profound ecological sensitivity, being home to a rich variety of native creatures, mammals, reptiles and birds, which have thrived because of their profound isolation, and lack of human interference.

Of course it was here that Charles Darwin, the young British biologist, came to call in the ship the Beagle in 1835 and spent three weeks collecting specimens. His careful observation of the differences in finches’ beaks led to his epoch-making conclusion that mutations occur in species over many generations, according to the demands of the habitat one exists in.

Such an original thought was counter to the prevailing belief of his time that God the creator created all species once and for all in the beginning.

So Darwin did not publish his controversial findings for 15 years after getting home to England. He suffered for his ideas, but evolution is now universally accepted in the scientific community.

Named by the United Nations as a protected heritage for humanity, the Galapagos islands admit a limited number of visitors each year, all of whom are led by a proud, trained, Galapagian-born guide. We took a serious pledge to preserve and protect everything there, and stay six feet away from creatures.

It was a veritable marine Garden of Eden. I encountered sea lions, flamingoes, pelicans, albatrosses doing a noisy mating dance, three white sharks about six feet in length, iguanas, turtles of all sizes, starfish, dolphins, mockingbirds and in one memorable night sky, the constellation the Southern Cross.

On Santa Cruz island, there is the Charles Darwin centre. Here the tortoises, freely ranging, can be 400 pounds.
The bird species that has gained affection and fame is the blue- footed booby. Those feet are really bright blue.

One has to sleep on board small boats. Ours, the Legend, held 100 people. It had been a hospital ship in the Second World War. One gains access to the islands via dinghies, through either a wet landing or a dry landing The walls of the ship are covered in Darwin quotes. “It is not the strongest or most intelligent who will survive, but the one who can manage change.”

And “This preservation of favorable variations and the destruction of harmful ones, I call the natural selection of the fittest.”

An activity we took part in was started by whalers in the 18th century. They would leave letters for home in a box on Floreana island in hopes some future passing sailor would be good enough to take them back to England and deliver. I rescued 4 cards left there by recent Canadians, but will mail them (B.C. and Quebec).

Some unscheduled “adventure” overtook us too, as Indigenous Ecuadorians, 10,000 strong, were demonstrating against high prices and unemployment by blocking roads and burning tires. United Airlines suspended service to Quito. Our carrier American came to pick us up. I sympathize with such global deprivation. Ecuador gets its oil from Ukraine.

I am also filled with admiration for that southern country of 17 million people who are stewarding a most beautiful part of the world, teaching ecological awareness and holding to high standards of responsibility.

"Gleanings" is Rosemary Ganley's new book. You can purchase directly from the author at rganley209@gmail.com or from >Amazon<

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