After repeating this nearly fifty times, I finally got called out. ¨What do you mean, you studied evolutionary biology and you are NOT going to the Galapagos? Is that even allowed?¨ For a kid that has saved every penny since she turned five, this was not an easy decision. I have to say, if it was not for graduation money I would not be here. Not so much because I got loads of money for graduation, but more so because everyone that gave me something for graduation wanted me to actually spend that money on something I wanted. And here I am, swimming with baby sea lions, snorkeling with sea turtles, watching boobies and frigates in the wild, wandering around in knee deep mud trying to see some huge tortoises.
In some ways the Galapagos feel a bit like a zoo. Everything costs a little more, there are floppy hats, khakis and cameras everywhere and many places smell like sea lion shit. However the cages are surrounding the people rather than the animals. You can walk out of your hostel and see a blue-footed booby dive into the ocean and catch a fish while a marine iguana swims nearby and a land iguana sunbathes on the other side of the street. The cacti and scrub look really weird, and I am nerding out trying to guess what is endemic, native or invasive. I often have to remind myself that I am not in class and do not need to memorize nor remember everything I am learning. A lot of times I have to remind myself that it is okay to take a nap on the beach.
The wildlife here is incredible. It is not that it is unique, it really is not for the most part. You can see sea lions, pelicans, boobies and iguanas elsewhere. The thing about the Galapagos is the way that the wildlife inhabit the island. Humans are second settlers to these species. To be able to be a part of moving that forward, of preserving these islands and putting the wildlife first, that is unique. I am not saying that it is this perfectly preserved paradise. There are human settlements, there is poverty and there are a lot of unsustainable practices that make me cringe. However it has made me think a lot about where we should be going, where we are going and why we are doing what we are doing to our earth.