The Galapagos Report

I have lived many places in my 70 years, and have travelled to countless others. I don’t usually rave about a location even if I loved it. I don’t make bored dinner guests watch endless slideshows. But my recent trip to the Galapagos Islands is an exception. If you are looking for unusual and weird wildlife, unparalleled and constant opportunities to view it, gorgeous snorkeling, a friendly population, excellent food, and a country that has ecologically sound tourism regulations and forward-looking policies to preserve its natural resources, Galapagos is the place to go. We were gone from home a week and in that short time we saw, up close, giant tortoises, three kind of iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, lizards, sharks, eels, spotted eagle rays, bottlenose dolphins, Sally Lightfoot crabs, thousands of birds including penguins, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigate birds, cormorants, pelicans, terns, finches, and flamingos, and schools of colorful tropical fish swimming above other ocean floor marvels. The archipelago is volcanic so there are sharp rocks everywhere, interspersed with gorgeous white sand beaches.The climate ranges from desert to jungle. 97% of Galapagos is a nature reserve, and the best part of that is that the locals have bought into the necessity of preserving their unique land for the world.