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Published: August 4th 2005
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For the first few days of my Galapagos trip, my internal monologue was really pretty boring, going something like this: "Oh my god, this is so amazing. Oh my god, this is so amazing. Oh look, another one, even closer. Oh my god, there are about fifty more over there. Oh my, this is so amazing. ... ... Oh my god, I feel so ill. Oh my god, I feel so ill. I think I´m going to throw up. I feel so ill ... ... Oh my god, this is so amazing. Oh look, there´s a baby one. This is so amazing..."
I think maybe you got the drift of this from my mid-trip entry. Anyway, I saw so many incredible animals. They´re crawling all over your feet practically. Heaped on top of each other. Not only did I snorkel with playful sea lions several times, but also with a sea turtle, which I´d say would be the centrefold, 50 point earner, of a Galapagos "Find 50" book. All animals are good, but some animals are more good than others. There were also penguins, flamingoes, albatrosses taking off over the cliff´s edge (not our living cliff, wouldn´t want to get
My mark on the islands
Can you do it from this angle? There´s only one way through. bird poo on our heads), manta rays in the beach shallows. And I paddled with a shark. The shark wasn´t paddling, just sort of staying still, and nor were the sea lions and turtle snorkelling.
I haven´t returned a fully-trained biologist, however, not least because our guide was terrible. The crowning moment came at the Darwin Centre. We were admiring baby tortoises, who all look quite similar, although there are about a dozen different species of tortoises from the different islands, and the adults are really quite different in size and shell shape etc. John said, "Now, if you took any baby tortoise from here and put it on a different island, in a few years it would develop the shell and size of the tortoises of that island." We pushed him: yes, these changes would occur within a tortoise´s lifetime, the baby would adapt. We were dumbstruck. You have to come to the Galapagos islands to find out that Darwin was wrong.
So he was a neo-Lamarkian, guiding a group of self-professed neo-Darwinists. To be more accurate, he was a fisherman who spoke a little English and had no interest in the place where he lived and
its significance. Another example, they´re so good. Mark asks him, "Is there a difference between the yellow-headed and white-headed albatrosses there?"
John said, "Yes."
There was a long pause while we waited.
Eventually, Mark caved and said, "What is it?"
John, "There is no difference. Some have yellow heads and some have white heads."
Right, thanks. Illuminating.
I didn´t have to share with any rapists, or men of any kind, which was a relief, especially as the cabin was about a cubic metre big. My first cabinmate was an elderly German lady, who welcomed me with a recitation of her invented rules and routines. Shoes under here, bags on this life jacket, bathroom window open whilst sailing, bin propped on basin when showering. I say showering. Our shower was a hose. I banged my head almost every time I used the little loo. You had to pump a handle till you were red in the face to empty the loo, which didn´t work for my last five days. The Germans were replaced by three ruddy Dutch girls half way through, who were lovely. At all times I was the only English (though we had two Americans for the second half) but thank goodness English is the international language of choice.
The landscape was also fascinating, and the beaches were gorgeous. The weather was reasonable, though the water was a little too cold for long snorkelling sessions.
I´d really really recommend it. Apply here for more information/photos. I could detail the second half of my itinerary if there were interest. I rebumped into my friends in Quito yesterday and they all seemed pretty into my photos. The sample I´ve displayed isn´t the best of the bunch.
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Back in Quito, I´m in need of a plan. My next formal engagement is at Bogota airport on 26th August. It´s taking shape. I want to either bike ride or white water raft tomorrow. I´ll go to Ottavalo market probably on Saturday morning. Then I want to go to Baños and maybe do a trek for a few days. The I´ll probably go to Colombia. I also need to learn how to download photos to CD. I´m so rubbish at this. I might just pay a shop $5 to do it, rather than continue to thrash about in internet cafes getting frustrated.
My novel is coming to an end. It´s good - the people at Penguin, US branch, chose "masterpiece" of all words - and it´s been getting sad, and I´m in a persistantly pensive mood. I prescribe fresh air and exercise.
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