Du Xinxin
Kong Dao: A rare beauty in the world
Early in the morning, we set off by boat from Isabela Island to Los Tuneles. The boat can seat 10 people, passengers from east and west countries, the tour guide in English.
Sail past a rocky reef about two stories high, and the waves crash ferociously against the reef. Large flocks of Nazca, which brave the wind and waves, or stand on or fly near the reef, are black-tailed, white-bodied, with dark circles under their eyes, as if wearing a mask. This large seabird generally lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and the bird was first recorded in the Galapagos Islands, and the recorder was Walter Rothschild. Yes, it was a member of the well-known Rothschild family. Walter was the grandson of the founder of the family, Myer Amsher Rothschild, who not only swept across British politics and finance, but was also a brilliant zoologist.
Not far away, a fishing boat is bouncing in the waves, and frigatebirds are flying around the boat. When the male frigate is in heat, its throat pouch inflates and becomes very large and red, and the bulging chin attracts not only the female, but also the photographer.
After a period of wind and waves, the boat sailed into a tranquil body of water. Reefs and bushes block the wind and waves, and the place is like a natural pool where people jump into the water and start snorkeling. I was worried that Shui Liang had rented a long-sleeved wetsuit and didn't want to wear it to be troublesome. I was the last to get into the water and swim quickly towards the team. At the rocky edge, the guide helps the team members sink to the bottom of the sea one by one. Ah, saw the white-capped shark! Unlike its cousins, this shark does not harm humans. A turtle swims slowly past, and the guide is filming. Another one swam over, and before it could return to its senses, another one swam across from it, and although it swam gracefully and unhurriedly, it swam much faster than it could crawl on land. Seeing that I was about to hit it, I quickly swam to the side, and the tour guide pushed me again, so as to avoid collision.
The guide took me to another place and helped me dive again. At the bottom of the sea, a small seahorse is happily shaking its head and tail between seagrass and reef. There are no more tropical fish seen in this sea than in the Red Sea or the Caribbean, but the experience of swimming with sharks, turtles, iguanas, sea lions and seahorses is unique. Among them, the turtles are the most adorable, they swim under me, next to me, seem to be a little curious about humans, and will come to see, while sharks basically do not care about people. Later, I got the snorkeling photo and found that in one picture, my figure appeared three times, the top was obviously a reflection of the sea, but the one on the left came from nowhere, maybe it was a water ghost?
After snorkeling, the crew handed over hot tea biscuits. Set sail again, the ocean changes color with the clouds, black, dark blue, bright blue, ice blue. The boat sailed across the open sea and traveled among the reefs. Emerald-colored seas, turquoise-colored seas, black reefs made of volcanic magma or built into low bridges, or drilled out of stone caves. A seed inadvertently falls and grows into a small tree there. The boat continues to circle between the reefs, and the scenery is getting more and more beautiful. In my opinion, this is not only the most beautiful scenery in the archipelago, but also a rare beauty in the world.
The boat was parked under the rocky shore, the cable was tied to the boulder, and the crowd climbed the soft ladder to the land. There are islands here, and the islands are connected by natural stone bridges. The pores are formed in volcanic eruptions, when lava flows and the surface magma cools, but the underlying magma still flows, creating very unique reef holes, holes and stone bridges. Among the rocks on the shore, gray-green cactus trees grow. Under a tree, there lay a blue-footed booby, and when you look closely, you know that it is hatching eggs. Compared to the Nazca seen at sea before, they are smaller in size and have brown tails, but still have dark circles. When the bird is mated in heat, the footboard turns blue. Although this bird and the giant tortoise are the signature of the archipelago, I have seen it on the picture, but the color of the footboard is very unreal, and at first glance I thought it was plastic.
In the evening, we hired our own car to see the island. Pass through highlands, hills, lava caves and finally come to the CampoDuro Eco Lodge. Trails run among coconut groves, plantains and orange trees, with tents set up along the green grass for tourists to camp. Walking through the fruity but unpicked orange grove, and seeing the fruiting papaya trees, next to the flower trellis set up by the Fuso flowers, the driver whistled and called out to the Darwin finches, and green smoke rose from the fire pit in the log shed.
The archipelago is tropical and the volcanic area is fertile. But all crops need to be sown and maintained by hand, especially in the rainless archipelago. Diverting water for irrigation, burning land, competing with rats and wild animals that plague crops... For nearly a hundred years, attempts have been made to grow tobacco, coffee, lemons and citrus on the island of Florina, but many have failed. Even on large, large islands, I only see crops and fruit trees growing around the house, which is probably the main reason why food on the island is expensive, right?
Back at the hotel in the evening, the outer son was a bit uncomfortable. I asked him to go to the doctor, but he didn't want to go for fear of trouble. When the little girl of the hotel, Andrea, learned about it, she asked why she didn't go and see it? I asked her how much it would cost to see a doctor, and she said no money and offered to take us to the clinic.
It was not yet seven o'clock, and it was already pitch black. The snack stalls in the alley were lit up, and the vendor was guarding a small glass box with cakes, not knowing who would buy it. Amid the sea breeze and the sound of the waves, we came to an iron gate. There is no hospital sign here, it looks like a warehouse. Walked up a passage for the disabled, knocked on the door a few times, and immediately someone answered the door. A desk, a hospital bed, a female doctor and a female nurse. The female doctor was very kind and spoke very good English. After the nurse took the temperature, the doctor began to consult. After repeatedly confirming the symptoms, the female doctor said that the problem was not big. Although her diagnosis coincided with the self-diagnosis of her grandson, it also made us put our minds at ease. She also repeatedly stressed that medical conditions are limited, and laboratory tests must go to Santa Cruz Island. The female doctor said that Ecuador has universal health insurance, and that medical students must serve the community for one year after graduation, and she was fortunate to be assigned to Isabella Island. Most of this community service is to remote areas, and presumably it is also semi-voluntary.
Santa Cruz Island: Visit Darwin Workstation
At five o'clock in the morning, we came to the pier and took a boat to Santa Cruz. It was more than two hours of difficulty, but fortunately I took seasickness medicine in advance.
The boat arrives at Santa Cruz Island, walks out of the docks, and crosses the greenery where a row of taxis is waiting. Taxis on the island are small trucks that can seat up to four people. The island is not large, the commercial and tourist areas are concentrated, and the fare to any place is 1.5 yuan. The car took us to the hotel, and after breakfast, we went to visit the Darwin workstation, which is the place where my nephew has been thinking about going!
There is only one hall in Darwin's workstation, and the most famous exhibit in the exhibition hall is a giant turtle specimen called Lonesome George. It is said that Lone George was born and died around 1910 – June 24, 2012. It was discovered in 1971 and confirmed dead in 2012. It is the last known tortoise on Pinta Island (scientific name: GeochelonenigraAbingdoni). This subspecies belongs to one of the 11 subspecies of the giant tortoise that inhabits the Galapagos Islands and is one of the rarest animals in the world.
I thought that the workstation would have more Darwin introductions and more scientific research, but after the visit, I was somewhat disappointed. In fact, Darwin never landed on Santa Cruz Island, and the workstation was just a borrowing of his name. There is also a bronze sculpture of his youth in the courtyard for visitors to take a group photo.
The common warbler finch (finch) on the island is a bird that lives on land, don't look at them small, ordinary-looking, but famous. In the Galapagos ornithology, these birds, known as the "Darwin Finches", are subdivided into 13 species. The most obvious difference between these finches is the shape and size of the beak. Torishi said it lightly, and field identification was almost impossible for me.
Since it is called Darwin's finch, it is naturally related to Darwin. In Voyages of the Beagle, Darwin gives an illustrated explanation. In short, these little birds somehow prompted Darwin to develop the idea of biological evolution. After Darwin, after the continued investigation and research of biologists David Lark and Peter R. Grant, the Darwin finch was truly regarded as a classic example of evolutionary biology, especially adaptive radiation.
In the afternoon, we went to take a tour of the bay of Santa Cruz Island. Pass by Punta Camaniho Island en route. Travelers can snorkel in the sea or take a walk up the island. We walked between small icy blue lakes and giant cactus forests, still having to step carefully on giant iguanas along the way. The last stop on the bay tour is Las Gri-etas, which means crevices. In fact, it is a small river 7 meters wide and 100 meters long, with cliffs on both sides. Young people jumped into the river from the cliffs, laughing and laughing continuously. Walking along the trail to the top of the river, the giant cactus under the slanting sun carries the light, and the thorns are a little exquisite. Standing on a high place, looking out over the sea from the cactus bushes, the green coast, the gray-blue sea, another layer of green, another sea. The white sails of the white cruise ship, all this beyond, the gray earth extends into the clouds, faintly seeing the mountains. Those gray mountains will burst into flames again.
In the evening we walked from the hostel to the marina. On the pedestrian street, a group of girls are dancing fitness dances. At night, islanders and tourists form a circle in the streets to watch indigenous dances. The dancers are all girls, the dance vocabulary is related to labor, spinning, weaving, threshing, laundry, we have seen similar performances at the "Devil's Nose" train station near Cuenca, but the girls here are more beautiful.
Santa Fe Island: Go up to the heights to see giant turtles
Santa Fe is located southeast of Santa Cruz Island, an uninhabited island where visitors can only change their rubber boats and make a short landing on the beach, the main activity is snorkeling. The weather was nice when I went out to sea and I climbed to the top. Look out into the distance and let the sea breeze blow. It is said that the boat takes 45 minutes, but the actual voyage took 1.5 hours. For the last half hour, I started getting seasick.
The yacht dropped anchor next to a rocky mountain, at which point the clouds came up and the sea turned black. At this moment when it was not tempting at all, the guide was already beckoning passengers to go snorkeling. The boat swung and I fainted from the water, so cold! After swimming forward for a while, but still feeling dizzy, as if I was not only seasick but also watershot, I turned and swam towards the yacht. Soon, other snorkelers also boarded the boat, some saying they had swam with sea lions. In these days of snorkeling, the water here is the coldest, the weather is also the worst, and seasickness makes me have no appetite.
The sun is finally out, and the waters are extremely clear, with turtles swimming in tropical fish or swimming around the boat, or burrowing in and out of the boat. Sea lions lie on the rocks on the shore, one or another. The sea lions of the Galapagos Islands are mainly SeaLion and FurSeal, Chinese are sea lions, but two words in English. They are marine mammals with dark or dark brown fur. SeaLion is larger, has a loud cry, and has small but erect ears. They walk on land, big feet rattling. Seal is smaller and less flipper, and land travel depends on the belly to help. A small sea lion lay on a rock wall, and a boat of people leaned over and took pictures of it. Annoyed, it twisted and crawled higher. One sea lion jumped into the water and the other followed closely. When it came to the water, the sharp and flexible was like two lions.
We are leaving the Pagos Archipelagos in Ghana, and the flight is scheduled for the afternoon. A few days ago, we only saw giant turtles in the tortoise hatchery base, is it really rare to see giant turtles in the wild? After being reminded by a friend, we knew that we had to go to the highlands to see the giant turtle.
The car drove along the road that crossed the island, and once again saw the dense fog forest, and once again saw the blooming glass green. Near Santa Rosa, the car left the main road and drove along a dirt road. Trees along the road set up canopy, and under the canopy came a herd of flower-faced cows. They walked to the front of the car and stopped, looked curiously into the window, and when they had seen enough, they bypassed and continued to move on. The flat red dirt road led to the distance, and suddenly I saw a giant turtle lying on its stomach in the middle of the road. We excitedly got out of the car to take a picture with them, and this was the first time we had seen a giant turtle in the wild.
At the end of the dirt road, you will see the "ElChato Ranch" giant turtle sanctuary. Giant turtle shells were displayed in the greenhouse, and the driver drilled into the shells to show us. Although the language barrier, I totally understood what he meant. If you look closely, the tortoiseshell of male and female turtles is different, and the tortoiseshell under the belly of the male turtle evolves to bulge inward, allowing it to lie firmly on the back of the female turtle and make love – another vivid example of evolutionary theory.
The vines are hanging low, the trees are deep, and the egrets are flying. Under the woods, on the grass, in the pond, there are hundreds of giant turtles crawling. They approached us very submissively, and it seemed that they had already seen through the spring flowers and autumn moon, and had gone through the rise and fall of the ups and downs, completely devoid of fire, and their experience was much deeper than that of us humans.
After taking a group photo with many giant turtles, the driver took us to see a pair of craters. It was a surprise that there was no such plan in advance. The crater is lush with vegetation and grows almost into an underground forest.
The driver took us across the sea to Fort Claw Island and watched us board the airport bus before waving goodbye. Regardless of whether the language can be communicated, the Ecuadorians encountered on the island are all kind and simple, and their words and deeds reveal the kindness of their hearts.
The plane is taking off and we bid farewell to the Galapagos Islands and fly to Quito.
Postscript: If there is a chance to come again
We stayed for 3 nights on Isabella Island and 2 nights on Santa Cruz Island. In 5 days, a total of 5-6 large and small islands were visited. See giant tortoises, penguins, sea lions, blue-footed boobys, iguanas, white-capped sharks, Darwin finches, pelicans, Galapagos herons, ? Seahorses, etc., some of which are unique to the island. I also swim with turtles, iguanas, etc. The most beautiful scenery is the volcanic magma area of is the Apostle of Isabe, and the day's activities are also the most colorful. If I have the opportunity to come again, I would choose to snorkel once and go bird watching on Seymour Island. Walk more trails on the high ground and learn more about the plants.
Darwin has landed on the four islands of Santa Cristobal, Florena, Isabella and Santiago. San Cristobá is the capital of the archipelago. Florina has a relatively large history of human life. Floreana: AWoman's Pil-grimagetotheGalapagos is the book I can find so far. The book's author, German Margret Wittmer, came to Florina with her husband in 1932. She gave birth to two children on the island and farmed and built a house. For a long time, their family was the only resident on the island. Shortly after landing on the island, they lived in caves. One day they were resting at the mouth of the cave when they suddenly saw a fire on Isabella Island, which turned out to be a volcano erupting! During World War II, although the archipelago was far from the mainland, the aftermath of the war could still be felt. President Roosevelt sailed to the archipelago on the ussword Houston, planning to anchor in Post Office Bay on Florina Island. The President wrote a handwritten letter to Margaret informing her of bringing her two boxes of daily necessities, but only staying for two hours in the hope of coming to meet her. In her 68 years on the island, Margaret has only returned to Germany twice. She lived on the island until her death in 2000 at the age of 96. Margaret's descendants are still running the house she built, but it seems to have fallen into decline.
It is said that there are some grottoes on the island of Santiago where you can swim with sea lions. People who have heard you say that because it is not open sea, you will touch sea lions when swimming, and they will scratch your feet. Although sea lions are very gentle animals, they also do not like to be in too small a space with humans, and if they scratch too hard, they will be injured. I've also heard of the spectacle of white-capped sharks spawning in groups on Darwin Island, but they can only be seen by cruise ship. Cruise ships are extremely expensive, which is the main reason why most tourists choose island hopping. Even if it's island hopping, the cost of the package is basically $300 per person a day. If there is a next time, I will fly directly to the island to re-order the tour, probably at least a third cheaper.
Because of our age and because of the distance, the trip to the Galapagos Islands was not an easy one for us. While what I saw on this trip can't be entirely compared to the diversity and spectacle of the Great Migration of Animals seen in East Africa before 1999, in my mind, the Galapagos Islands will always be the first mecca of biology.
(Dated October 1-6, 2019.) The author lives in Atlanta, USA. Major works "Ganges: Flowing from this World to the Next Life", "This One Goes to Ten Thousand Waters and a Thousand Mountains")