by Charlanne Tippett

It's Spring in North Carolina, and not only do we feel we've gone suddenly from Winter to Summer and back to Spring in two short weeks; even more, we feel as if we've just stepped out of a time capsule that has taken us from the eve of the third millenium to a time before man even walked on the Earth, and then back again. Our heads are still spinning, and which is the harsher reality is yet to be determined!

Well, in truth the trip wasn't quite so sudden. It took us about 13 hours to fly from Charlotte to Quito, Ecuador on February 10. After a quick overnight in Quito, we flew to the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands, some 600 mles off the coast of Ecuador, in the Pacific Ocean. As we emerged from the plane we were engulfed by the equatorial heat and humidity-- Charlanne felt like she was back "home" in her beloved Caribbean! Soon we found ourselved packed into a hot van along with other "gringos," all of us eager to be transported to the waterfront at Puerto Baquerizo Mareno, where we would board open dingys to be spirited across the water to our waiting "time capsule"-- the M.V. Corinthian. Though the port reminded us of a sleepy Mexican village, the soaring sea birds and sunning sea lions stretched across the decks of boats moored in the harbor were a hint of the unusual experiences to come.

We found our cabin quite comfortable, since the ship which was originally built to carry 100 passengers now carries only 48, due to Galapagos Park regulations. Little did we suspect until later that night, though, that we were located right beside the anchor housing, which meant we were awakened at such odd hours as 12:30 am and 4 am, when the ship weighed or dropped anchor! We quickly began to meet our fellow passengers, most from the U.S., but one couple from England, one man from Holland, and a family from Ecuador. We were divided into three groups for touring the islands with the three naturalists: boobies, cormorants and albatrosses! We were happy to be called "boobies" on this trip!

Just an hour after the Corinthian pulled away from her mooring, we eased into a serene bay, where we were immediately struck by the quiet. It was a place that, except for ourselves, bore not a trace of human presence. Once the motors of our dinghys were silenced we heard nothing but the irregular "CAAAHH, CAAHHH" of seabirds, an occasional bark coming from the sea lions lazing on the rocks, and our own whispers. (No one told us we should whisper-- it was an involuntary reaction to the quiet surrounding us!) Once we grew accustomed to seeing great frigatebirds fly over our heads and yellow warblers hop along the rocks, we eased into the clear water with our snorkeling gear to discover the white ocean floor littered with "sea biscuits" (large sand dollars) and spiny black sea urchins clinging to the rocks! Next we decided to try approaching the sea lions, and one of them took a liking to Charlanne's red toenails, followed her along the beach and gave her a big sea lion kiss right on the toes! As our brochure explained, Ochoa Beach was a mere "subtle introduction to the Galapagos."

Our next day at Tower (Genovesa) Island proved to be the richest in wildlife. We first had a "wet landing" on a sandy beach, where we were immediately inside a seabird rookery. There on the overhanging rocky cliffs perched swallow-tail gulls and masked boobies as common as robins at home! In the scrubby hummocks scattered across the sand, immature great frigatebirds calmly observed us from their nests, as if WE were the curious new creatures in THEIR ordinary world! We watched a ruddy turn-stone do just what his name implied, roll round stones over in the sand, like a child rolling a ball in his front yard! Then our attention was captured by a jet-black marine iguana, standing out in stark relief against the snow-white sand, as she dug a hole in which to lay her eggs. Red-footed boobies perched in the low trees like colorful Christmas ornaments forgotten last December, and then someone discovered a cottony fluff-ball-- a recently-hatched masked booby hidden amongst some green leaves! Among the rocks we found well-camouflaged brownish Galapagos doves and steel-gray lava gulls, but the exotic yellow-crowned night heron couldn't hide his beauty from us. That afternoon we remained anchored in Darwin Bay, and after lunch we borrowed one of the ship's sea kayaks to paddle along the rocky cliffs. We were entertained the whole time by soaring frigatebirds, gulls, and the exquisite red-billed tropic bird with its brilliant red bill and long white tail streaming out in its flight like the tail of a kite. On our walk that afternoon, after climbing the steep and rocky Prince Phillips Steps, we strolled through a "forest" of knarled palo santo trees, almost every one adorned with a nesting red-footed booby or great frigatebird. At the end of the trail we sat on the vermillion lava rocks and watched storm petrels play while we waited for a short-eared owl to appear. Back on the ship, we joined our mates for a cool drink on deck, and as we were sailing to our next island we were thrilled to spot a humpback whale spouting a few hundred yards away!

Saturday morning it felt like we were taking a trip to the moon! As we approached Bartolome Island we could tell from its eerie profile and huge patches of black lava fields that this land mass was totally different from those we had seen so far. Once ashore we "crunched" with every step on the black and red volcanic cinders, and we couldn't help noticing the scant scrubby vegetation that looked like it was barely alive. The only sign of life was a lava lizard sunning itself on the dry landscape, as we climbed the steep cinder cone to the summit. At the top we found a monument/lighthouse marking the latitude (0 degrees 16.5' S) of this desolate spot, but what took our breath away was the spectacular view of the crystal-clear aquamarine water of Sullivan Bay and the jagged outline of Pinnacle Rock.

That afternoon on Santiago (James) Island we played in the water with sea lions, then marveled at HUGE colonies of brilliant orange Sally Lightfoot crabs and mottled marine iguanas. While snorkeling we encountered a white-tip shark, and other more colorful tropical fish, but the biggest thrill was discovering a jolly Galapagos penguin perched on a rock just about two feet from our faces! On the inland trail we saw several new species of birds-- whimbrels, Galapagos hawks, northern phalaropes, brown noddies, brown pelicans and magnificent frigatebirds. We delighted to watch a HUGE pod (probably 30!) of bottlenose dolphins play just offshore, then a green sea turtle put on a feeding exhibition for us in a frothy grotto. A fur sea lion (once thought to be nearly extinct) put on a show for us as he played with a fish he had caught in a tidal pool. We felt sure that the brown pelican that was looking on would dart in and steal the fish, but he never did! On the dinghy ride back to the ship, Yvonne (the "Cormorant" guide) secretly took us to a spot where two more penguins tottered beneath a spiny cactus-- what seemed like a real anachronism!

Sunday was Valentine's Day, and after our excursion on Santa Cruz Island, on which we saw a lone pink flamingo, land iguanas, white-cheeked pintails, black-necked stilts, groove-billed anis and assorted finches, we came back to find the ship festooned in red hearts, balloons and crepe-paper streamers. We had a special Ecuadorian feast for lunch-- a whole roast pig, shrimp ceviche, roasted yucca (a white root), rice and fabulous fresh fruit. That afternoon we visited the Charles Darwin Research Center and saw "Lonesome George," the last of a particular breed of giant tortoises-- sad! Since we were back in "civilization" (Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island is one of the two large "towns" on the two most developed inhabited islands of the Galapagos.), we did our obligatory T-shirt and souvenir shopping before returning to the ship for an elegant Farewell and Valentine Dinner.

After saying our good-byes to our fellow passengers on Monday morning we embarked on the second part our Galapagos adventure-- a week on San Cristobal Island with an Ecuadorian family! Yes, Bill had arranged with two "ham" friends from California to spend a week working with them on antennas and preparing for a radio contest at the home of an Ecuadorian ham who lives on San Cristobal. We were met at the dock by Trey and Steve and escorted to Guido Rosillo's home, which would be our home for the next week. The "taxi" (a small Toyota truck) took us through town, up a small hill, to the house, which was also a laundry and water purification station! We found a sprawling concrete and stone house, with beautiful woodwork and three smiling children ages five through eleven! The mother of the youngest, Maritza, is Guido and Chelita's eldest daughter; young Guido is ten and Ana is eleven. Gabriel (Maritza's 5-year-old) kept us all on our toes! Since none of the Rosillos speak English and neither of us speaks Spanish, we depended on Trey to translate so we could communicate. When Bill, Trey and Steve went to work on the radio station and then to work the contest, however, Charlanne quickly put her French vocabulary to work helping her stumble along with a few words of Spanish. She's happy to report that with the help of a Spanish dictionary and her brief "total immersion course" that week, her Spanish vocabulary has increased about fourfold (to maybe 50 words!).

We all quickly settled into a routine: after breakfast together, "the boys" would head to El Junco (the second highest point on the island, and a bumpy, dusty 30-minute drive from the house), and Charlanne would read, write, walk down the hill to town, then have a VERY QUIET (due to the language barrier) lunch with Guido. (The women and children ate in the kitchen, while we "guests" and our host Guido ate in the dining room, which was also the "Family Room" where the kids watched TV and played video games.) Afternoons were hot and lazy-- Charlanne found the best way to cool off in the heat of the day was a cold shower about 4 o'clock when it was hottest and stillest. The hams would come back for dinner and continue discussing ways to improve their station. Apparently their efforts were not in vain, since they won the contest and broke the previous world record for their category by about 9%! (If you are interested in the gory details, you can read Bill's story.) Sunday evening we celebrated with champagne and ice cream, then packed our bags to head back to Quito for a few days before returning home.

The teeming city nearly 10,000 feet in the Andes was quite a shock (50 degrees instead of high 80s!) after spending nearly two weeks on the Equator at sea level, with primarily seabirds and iguanas for neighbors! We found our accommodations at Hostal Los Alpes beautiful and charming, in an old converted 1930s mansion right across the street from the American embassy! One morning we took a city tour and saw several of the city's beautiful, ornate gothic cathedrals and quiet monasteries, as well as a labor demonstration in the streets! The next day we went to the "official" Equator, where there's a towering monument housing a WONDERFUL museum about the various native peoples of Ecuador. We dined the last night with Steve, Trey, another Ecuadorian ham, Pedro Katz, and his wife Elsye in a lovely restaurant where we could overlook the whole city and slowly ease ourselves back into the twentieth century.

Flying out the next morning, as we emerged from the clouds we could at last see the beautiful snow-capped Andes with terraced farms like emerald and jade crocheted shawls embracing their sloping shoulders. We couldn't help thinking of the various tribes of Indians who still lived in these hills just as they have for centuries-- eking out a living from their rich land. And as much as we had enjoyed the varied experiences of our journey to the Equator, we were happy to be heading home to a North Carolina spring!

Copyright 1999 by Charlanne Tippett