THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOTGalapagos Islands Are Like No Other Place on Earthby Evelyn KanterAs our motorized launch, called a panga, docked at a natural stone outcropping alongside South Plaza Island, several dozen of the sea lions that had been swimming offshore scampered up onto the rocks. By the time we disembarked and headed up a trail leading across this spit of land in the ocean hundreds of miles from Ecuador’s mainland, many of them were stretched out, simultaneously sunning themselves and watching us. It was a zoo in reverse. We humans, literally caged by a narrow path we agreed not to stray from, were the strange creatures being ogled by the natives roaming free. A huge colony of sleek, whiskered sea lions, ranging in color from light coffee to copper-tinged black, sat quietly, their bellies warmed by sun-baked rocks, huge black eyes intently following the multi-colored crowd which occasionally stopped to take a photograph.
Earlier that day, I had watched another curious sea lion swoop and swoosh and swim around me. It was, of course, much more graceful and agile than I, weighted down as I was by scuba tanks and flippers that were not a normal part of my body. While most of my group went snorkeling, I opted to go completely underwater. We were five divers with three guides. On the sea lion’s first pass, I was frozen in fascination combined with fear that the fast-swimming bullet-shape rocketing toward me would not stop in time and would bump into me and knock off my mask or air regulator. Bored by my lack of movement, it circled and swam away, but curiosity got the best of it, and it circled back moments later. Luckily, I figures out quickly it would swim away again if I remained motionless, so I mimicked the sea lion, turn for turn. You pirouette, I pirouette. You entertain me, I’ll reciprocate. It became a pas de deux. Brief and memorable. The next day, I had to move out of the way of an apparently nearsighted prehistoric-looking land turtle which was getting close enough for me to feel the breath hissing from its wide olive drab nostrils. These beasts are the size and shape of a Volkswagen Beetle, with flippers instead of wheels, so backing up seemed prudent.
Lonesome George is the most famous of the estimated 14,000 giant tortoises in the Galapagos. The 100year-old specimen is the last known survivor of his species, found in 1971 on Pinta Island, one of the hundreds of small and large islands in the Galapagos chain. Since there isn’t a female to mate with, environmentalists at the Charles Darwin Research Station keep George isolated and celibate, rather than have him father a new hybrid breed. Mostly, George can be found dozing in the shade. Brief and memorable is a fair description of any visit to these islands. There is so much to see and not enough time to see it properly. Each of the 600 land masses in this windswept chain is distinct and different from the others, and many are populated by plants or animals found only on that island and not on its neighbor. Many are found nowhere else on earth, brought to the islands eons ago by a confluence of cross-currents and trade winds from South America and the Indo-Pacific. That’s why Darwin spent so many years here studying evolution, coming up with his theory of survival of the fittest. There are two ways to probe this land that – truly – time forgot. Most tourists live aboard passenger ships, or the special scuba dive boats, that cruise among the islands. Even the largest Galapagos cruise ships hold fewer than 250 passengers, so anyone with claustrophobia or a tendency toward seasickness should opt for a land stay. I stayed at The Hotel Delphin, on the main island of Santa Cruz, a well appointed resort with a sandy beach overlooking a protected cove, huge swimming pool a good bit warmer than the sea water which is frigid year-round thanks to the arctic Humboldt Current, hiking paths and an international, multilingual staff. Each morning, we boarded the hotel’s day cruiser, the Delphin Two for a round-trip excursion, and returned to the hotel for a home-cooked dinner of local fish and succulent tropical fruits. Dessert included a lecture about the wildlife, terrain and history of the next day’s expedition. I felt very much at home aboard the boat. It was operated before as a dinner-cruiser in New York City, my hometown, and I had to laugh at how incongruous it was to see the cut glass Manhattan skyline still decorating the area behind the bar. We sailed to visit the penguins on one island, watch blue-footed boobies dive-bomb out of the sky to snatch lunch from beneath the water off another, and see the five active volcanoes at yet another island. On the way home one day, we sailed past Flamingo Lagoon, named for the thousands of lipstick-pink birds that next along its shore. While some islands are lush with vegetation and teeming with wildlife, hiking to the top of Bartholome Island made me feel like an astronaut on the moon. This barren volcanic moonscape looks as if a giant wad of black silly putty were crushed into weird shapes and dried in the sun. It is all but devoid of life, except for a few tiny cactus and the finger-sized lizards that scamper around them.
Besides, from Quito, it is easy to visit the famous outdoor market at Otovalo on Saturdays. The stalls closest to the entrance have the more tourist-oriented merchandise. Keep walking toward the food stalls in the central plaza for the real stuff. The Ecuadorian Indians are famous for hand woven and knitted wool items, so expect to stock up on richly-colored sweaters, scarves, ponchos and gloves. My only disappointing purchase was a huge shawl for $6. The disappointment? A few months after returning from Ecuador, I saw stacks of similar shawls being sold by New York City’s street vendors, although for almost triple the price. Metropolitan Touring is Ecuador’s oldest and largest tour operator. Call 1-800-527-2500. Several cruise lines, such as Holland America, include the Galapagos Islands on their itineraries, and Special Expeditions adventure travel company has its own passenger ships. Among other companies operating tours are Cosmos, Abercrombie & Kent, Globus, G.A.P. Adventures and First Mango Adventures. Photo Images by Evelyn Kanter |
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I watched one sea lion plant its snout atop a smooth rock and then wriggle its body in among the other rocks, much like we humans settle our bodies into the sofa pillows. When the position was comfortable, it quieted to enjoy the passing show. The sea lion’s face was so sweet and innocent and its eyes so unblinking that I stopped and crouched down to talk to it, much as I would talk to my cat after it’s done something cute.
Moments later, five of the lumbering creatures were ignoring all their visitors because lunch had been served. They lined up in a row, much like humans at a restaurant salad bar, busily grabbing and munching on what was directly in front of them, then looking around to see if a neighbor had lucked into an even juicier tidbit of greenery.
Flights between Quito or Guyaquil and the Galapagos are scheduled so that you cannot avoid staying overnight on the mainland in each direction. Unfortunately, that reduces an advertised eight day Galapagos trip to just four within the islands. Quito is the much preferable city. It is Ecuador’s capital city, with some wonderful parks and architecture and several top-notch hotels and restaurants. Guyaquil struck me as dull, grey and unappealing.