By Cheryl Ryan
It turns out that I like birds now. The last thing I cared about seeing in the Galapagos were birds but watching a male Blue-footed Booby during mating season kind of captured my heart. Like much of this trip, I had limited expectations since it could’ve easily been canceled, given the past two years.
It didn’t, and I’m so glad. To get to Galapagos, you need to go through Guayaquil, Ecuador. Then take a six hundred plus mile flight to the volcanic islands. Once there, and especially since it is a Unesco site, you are only allowed into specific areas to maintain the health of the land and wildlife population. The number of boats and places that allow non-resident visitors are also restricted.
The archipelago lies on the equator, which means it can get hot on land, yet the water is much colder than I expected. There is a confluence of three significant currents, The Humboldt, Panama Flow and Cromwell, which converge at the Galapagos, carrying water-rich nutrients from all around the globe. It was pretty cool to learn.