Traveling to Another World: the Galapagos Islands

 LUCY BURDETTE: John and I decided to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Galapagos Islands, sponsored by Princeton Alumni Travel. Our good friend Steve joined us. It was an amazing expedition, though somewhat overshadowed by the arrival of unwanted guest hurricane Irma, bearing down on the Florida keys beginning the middle of our week. Aside from refraining from travel during the hurricane season, I did take away some important lessons from this bucket list trip.

Lucy with tortoise

1.  There is a job in the world for everyone. Our expedition leader, Lynn Fowler, arrived in the Galapagos in 1978. She fell in love with the islands and has been working as a naturalist guide ever since. Her first research was observing giant tortoise behavior. She did this alone in the mountains, hiking miles for water, living in a tent for over a year with no amenities. None. She is utterly intrepid, and was extremely patient with visitors, devoted to sharing her love for these remote islands. This life suited her perfectly--I could never have done it. (About an hour and a half watching these guys was enough for me!)



2. Leave the fashion to the animals. September is the beginning of the cool season in the Galapagos, but since the islands are located near the equator, the sun can still wreak havoc on unprepared tourists. So we wore sun shirts and goofy hats. 

And we wore them over and over.

Snorkeling in 66° water is not for the faint of heart. Although we brought snorkeling skins and footies and wore the half wet suits they provided us, I was a popsicle within 15 minutes. The next time out, John and I both took staff suggestions to wear a second wetsuit on top of the first. And no, I am not sharing a photo of that look. This guy is much more attractive:

Blue footed booby

3.  This trip is really all about the animals. This is the very spot where Charles Darwin began to develop his theories about evolution, based on his observations of Galapagos finches, among other creatures. We saw firsthand the results of the giant tortoise restoration project, and heard stories about how species introduced by humans had threatened the  original denizens of the islands. Since the animals and birds are now strictly protected, they have no fear as they don’t consider humans to be predators. We had close-up interactions with such amazing creatures as great frigate birds, blue footed boobies, sea lions, Galapagos fur seals, giant tortoises, and Galapagos iguanas.

Blue footed booby with baby

land iguana

snoozing sea lion

pelican

oyster catcher

Giant tortoise cooling off

more snoozing

sea turtles

4. Go with the flow, both literally and figuratively. (This is so hard for me!) Our expedition leader, ship captain, and guides were prepared to change course on a moment's notice. Because of that, we were able to view amazing things like a dolphin and sea bird feeding frenzy, the Galapagos hawk dancing with one of the visitors, and the eruption of a shield volcano on Fernandina Island. We watched a ribbon of lava snake down the mountain side toward the sea with drinks in our hands. Wow!

5. Be open to shifts in your perspective, such as... sea lions instead of dogs or cats at the fish market... 



What lessons has traveling taught you?