Now, Brian normally conducted these end-of-adventure reviews by starting with the bad bits and then concluding with the good bits. However, for this Galápagos adventure, it had to be the other way around. Partly because of the nature of the bad bits and partly because of his own complicity in one of them in particular.
Anyway, the first bad bit/low point of this expedition to the Galápagos was its inevitable lack of freedom. By its very nature, it was impossible to simply land and then walk where one chose, and although it would have had appalling consequences if one did this, it did make for a very constrained and a very regimented ‘adventure’. Indeed, so much so, that ‘adventure’ didn’t feature at all, and it could often feel as though one was on a guided school visit – with Mr Darwin, the teacher, in control. Brian had given this aspect of the expedition a lot of thought, and had almost decided not to put it onto the low-points list at all. It was, after all, unavoidable and he’d known all about the restrictions imposed before he’d come. But it could definitely not be regarded as a high point – from the perspective of somebody who had been fortunate enough to roam around other parts of the world almost unhindered. So, he had put it down as a negative, even after recognising that when snorkelling, he hadn’t felt constrained at all. And certainly not in the company of that hammerhead shark…
OK, second low point, and a much more serious low point: the inhabited areas of the Galápagos and the behaviour of the inhabitants. This was a tricky one, because Brian was not poor, he wasn’t a landless peasant from Ecuador and he wasn’t a fisherman or farmer who had a big family to feed. Whereas most of the people living on the Galápagos Islands seemed to fall into one of these categories, and during their lives they had failed to accrue the precious middle-class concerns for the environment and the world in general that Brian and his companions had. Accordingly, they seemed indifferent to the impact they were having on such a priceless manifestation of nature – whether on land or in the sea – and they were equally indifferent to the scars they were inflicting in the form of their settlements and their scruffy farms. Brian had known for a long time that people had lived on the Galápagos, but before he had come here he had not been aware of quite how many of them there were or of quite how callous they were in their attitude to their surroundings.
Of course, this assessment of the Galápagos residents was a terrible generalisation, and there were many people – like Darwin – who held a very different view of how the islands should be treated and how the islanders should behave. But they were clearly not in a majority and their ranks were unlikely to be swelled if the ‘authorities’ had their way and more and more visitors were brought to the islands. And this pressure being exerted by this burgeoning number of visitors led Brian to the final low point on his list – and to the part that he himself played in it.
Yes. In sailing around the Galápagos archipelago, one cannot fail to notice that one is rarely on one’s own. Occasionally one is, and on other occasions one may be moored at a visitor site with just one other vessel. But commonly there are three, four or even five boats lying off a popular site, and some of these boats, as already reported, are not the size of the Beluga. Some are double its size. Some are four times its size. And a couple are absolute monsters. All these boats contain visitors and inevitably all these visitors, as well as representing a direct threat to the environment in terms of their sheer numbers, represent a much bigger threat in terms of what is needed to support their visit. And this is because most of what they need can only be provided by people who live on the Galápagos – and, not surprisingly, breed on the Galápagos. Quite simply, nature tourism in this archipelago risks undermining the very nature on which it is currently based – because of its demand for the permanent settlement of residents. And whilst great efforts are being made to ensure that this risk is minimised, it is going to become a monumental struggle when the ‘authorities’ seek to exploit the archipelago further, even to the extent of promoting ‘regular’ holidays as well as eco-holidays. More and more permanent residents will arrive. More and more babies will arrive. And more and more of the land in the archipelago will be ‘zoned’, grabbed or otherwise screwed up in order to meet their demands for housing, food and even recreation. It’s what happens. It’s what happens everywhere in the world. And, it can now be reported that it is happening in what might be regarded as one of the most precious environments in the world. And that’s not precious as in middle-class precious, but precious as in magnificent, astonishing, sublime and unique.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Brian was inescapably complicit. By coming here with Sandra, he had required food, drinks, a boat, fuel for this boat, a panga, fuel for the panga, a supply of napkins, toilet paper, cleaning products and no doubt many more things that he was unaware of. And none of this stuff appeared out of thin air. It had to be ordered by people, brought to the archipelago by people, warehoused by people, distributed and delivered by people, and all or most of these people lived here in the Galápagos – in one of those less than salubrious settlements that were still growing apace. Yes, there was no doubt about it. He was guilty as charged. And whilst he would not be fined or incarcerated for his felony, he would feel genuinely guilty and certainly more than a little uncomfortable that he had come to this place – and had enjoyed it so much…
But what could one do? How could one come to these conclusions without coming here? How could one realise one’s folly before one committed it? And what was the alternative? To eschew the archipelago entirely and so starve it of the funds it needs for its conservation work? Or maybe just empty it of its residents and seal it all off? Neither of which alternatives had much to recommend it and neither of which was in any way practical.
Well, it was at this point that Brian thought he had probably over-reviewed his experience of the Galápagos, and however guilty or otherwise he felt about coming here, it would make no difference. The archipelago would thrive or suffer despite what was going on inside his head. And anyway, he could hear Sandra returning to the cabin now, and it had struck him earlier in the day that he had omitted from his review of all those South American countries one very important ‘country’ indeed: that other archipelago off the coast of the continent which went by the name of the Falklands. So, lucky Sandra. She had a bonus to come. And he knew a great deal more about the Falklands than she’d expect. Including the fact that its environment might not be quite as fascinating as that of the Galápagos, but thanks to its history and its present minimal human presence, this environment was not really under threat. Neither was it under threat from too many visitors.
Which, thought Brian, might mean that Sandra would not only receive a lecture on the Falklands this evening, but also an invitation to consider it as their next destination! A balance to their visit to the Galápagos, or an atonement or a penance. Call it what you will, thought Brian. But it would be perfect. Even if it lacked boobies, the Beluga, the Beluga’s complement of passengers, giant tortoises, Pedro’s food, mockingbirds, Darwin’s lectures, oversized calderas, colourful iguanas – and hammerhead sharks.
Although, there again, without that one hammerhead shark off the Devil’s Crown, it couldn’t, Brian admitted to himself, be entirely perfect…
By the same author
Brian’s World Series
Brian on the Brahmaputra (with Sujan in the Sundarbans)
A Syria Situation
Sabah-taged
Cape Earth
Strip Pan Wrinkle (in Namibia and Botswana)
Crystal Balls and Moroccan Walls
Marmite, Bites and Noisy Nights (in Zambia)
The Country-cides of Namibia and Botswana
First Choose Your Congo
The Renton Tenting Trilogy
Dumpiter
Ticklers
Lollipop
Light-bites
Eggshell in Scrambled Eggs
Crats
> The A-Z of Stuff
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Absolutely Galápagos Page 22