3 fishermen friends asked about "America"

Our really wild friends, Brooke and Cyrus Foote are living the lifie sailing around the world and Brooke sends us frequent log entries of their adventures. Here is today's log from Makogai Island part of the Lomaiviti chain of islands in the South Pacific. The island is volcanic, roughly 8 sq.km in area and has been used in the past as a leper colony and in the more recent times as an agricultural quarantine station. Jeff Stivers, in our office is currently planning a new Wildland Adventure in the Indonesian archipeligo and heading out in October to lead a trip in Borneo and voyage among Flores, Komodo and Bali.

 

17 26.34S

178 57.25E

 

Last night 3 men in torn t-shirts and broad white smiles came to the boat in their panga... they are headed out at sunset to fish for the night.  Do we have any metal leader line?  Barracudas apparently are not their friends and they have been losing their precious hooks.

 

We find some and they head out off the pass happily.  3 hours ago, 7am, they return with 9 coconuts for drinking, all prepared for us to simply tap into.  I have saved 2 straws.. and I have my breakfast.. I call, 'mother natures juice box'.  They also hand us a giant stalk of bananas.  More than we can possibly eat, but they say they have too many, so we must take them.  We see a few groupers, a larger snapper and several other speckled gasping fish at the bottom of their boat.  They are just now returning and have not done very well... They only have about 9 fish.  They hand us one.  They want cigarettes.. we have none.  I tell them it is bad for them with humor.. they laugh.  So I hand them a large box of tea, a canned ham (they are excited about this) and a package of cookies for their kids.  Cyrus trades a few old lures for a few hooks they tell us we MUST have..  We are at Makogai.

 

Makogai snuggles within the reef that cuts between the two main islands of Fiji, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.  The reef passes are dramatic with boiling blue water and the islands embrace calm lagoons fringed by golden sand, sweeping coconut trees and giant woven fig trees that scream tree fort!  The reef is blooming with life.  Clown fish snuggle in plump purple anemones, parrot fish graze the yellow corals and gem colored damsel fish dance together, sweeping up and down in a visual feast that makes your heart leap.  Psychedelic lips of giant clams shock our eyes and I laugh as I watch a very protective fish dart after Cyrus to keep him away... I can hear him hitting Cy's mask... "MY CLAM!  MY CLAM!" 

 

Cyrus pops to the surface smiling... Did you see that pissed off fish go after me?  He asks.  I am laughing.. yes, i did.  "You'd better leave his clam alone".

 

These glassy waters and the simple lifestyle soaks into the skin like coco-butter, opening the pores and smelling sweet.  We can't help but think of the millions on their iphones, computers.. in traffic and the bombardment of life that is the Western world... and then watch this world.  This world feels simply balanced and less complicated.  Yes, they have no video games, malls and this seasons fashion.  They have no need.  They may have no refrigeration or power.. they have no need.  These men grow clams and fish and forage.. and they are curious.

 

This morning, our 3 fishermen friends asked about "America":

 

"What do you do in America?"

 

"Good Question."

 

"I hear there is a lot of money in America"

 

"Yes, there can be a lot of money, but there is a lot to spend it on.  Many have to pay for a place to live, a car to drive, insurance, food"

 

"Oh.. we don't make much money, but we have the island and reef for food and have places to live with our families"

 

"Yes, many in the US don't even have a garden.. they must pay for all of their food"

 

"Oh really?  We are lucky, we have the reef for fish, and the island for fruits and vegetables."

 

"Yes, the people here seem very happy!  The quality of life is different here"

 

"Yes, we are happy.  People leave us be.  We have food and we have family.  Maybe you should just live here?"

  

"Yes, maybe we should".

 

~Brooke

Lonesome George dies in Galapagos

 Lonesome George, the last surviving Pinta Island giant tortoise, has died in the Galapagos Islands. Scientists say he was over 100 years old. This review arrived from Cristina Valdivieso of Metropolitain Tours.

When the Galápagos Islands became a National Park in 1959, conservation priorities were a top priority for the world's scientific community. Giant tortoises, who gave their names to the remote archipelago, ranked high, together with the need to eradicate introduced animals (rats, goats, etc.) from the archipelago's days as a pirate bolt-hole.

Hundreds of thousands of giant tortoises had been killed for food during the intense whaling years of the 18th and 19th centuries.  Conservation reached Galápagos too late for some. Floreana and Santa Fe Island Giant Tortoises had disappeared long ago, and the only known living tortoise from Fernandina Island was killed and preserved in the name of research and conservation during a United States expedition in 1907. The La Pinta Tortoise was, officially, another species wiped out, while the island itself was plagued by introduced goats, the tortoises' direct, warm-blooded competitors for food.

Inadvertently, in December 1971 a young snail expert, Joseph Vagvolgyi, while squatting over the resident Bulimulus spp snails of La Pinta Island, was startled by moving shrubbery. He expected goats to have caused the commotion, but instead saw a male tortoise emerging from the foliage. His report went unnoticed until 1972, when a team of park wardens went to La Pinta Island to hunt introduced goats. On that visit an Ecuadorian field biologist, Manuel Cruz, took the opportunity to analyze the stomach content of goats to understand better the effect of goats foraging upon the fragile flora of the Galápagos. Cruz once again stumbled upon the last living tortoise of La Pinta. But this time he opted for rounding up wardens to help him lug the weighty (200-pound/90-kg), reptile down to the beach. A few days later the tortoise was happily ensconced at the Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island.

The relevance of this 'animal rescue' didn't become evident until much later. In the 1970s, each island's tortoise population was taxonomically seen as a subspecies - with only subtle differences among them. In subsequent years, scientists agreed that they were all different species. The only remaining living tortoise of La Pinta became a "living extinct species", unless a female was found. From that day forth, the search began to find another female La Pinta tortoise. Officially, a monetary reward still exists for the person who delivers a female La Pinta tortoise to the National Park authorities.

In the meantime, one of the wardens from the 1972 team on la Pinta, Fausto Llerena, took over the care of the all resident tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station.  George, as he called him, became better known over the years as "Lonesome George", possibly named after the American comedian George Gobel (1919-1991) who used this nickname in some of his shows.

As the last living tortoise of La Pinta species, Lonesome George soon became a living icon for conservation not only in the Galápagos but also internationally. His image is the logo of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, and he is possibly the world's most famous reptile. He even has an entry as the rarest animal in the world in the Guinness Book of Records and a clothing line named after him. As author Henry Nicholls puts it: "His story echoes the challenges of conservation worldwide; it is a story of Darwin, sexual dysfunction, adventure on the high seas, cloning, DNA fingerprinting and eco-tourism."

His departure is felt worldwide.  A faint flame of hope remains, following a recent study in northern Isabela (where species with Floreana Island DNA were found), with the tortoises presumably removed in whaling days that carry George's species DNA. Perhaps George's death is not entirely the last page of a chapter initially stained by human greed, later redeemed with dedicated efforts towards the preservation of endangered species. As for the old male from La Pinta, he will be remembered for generations to come, and his story will serve to shed light on our responsibility towards the other species on our planet.

Learn more about perpetuation of Lonesome George's DNA in the New Scientist: Lonesome George dies but his subspecies genes survive
For travel to Galapagos see: Wildland Adventures in Ecuador and Galapagos
Founding member of IGTOA: International Galapagos Tour Operators Association

Dia del Padre in the Ecuadorian Highlands

I spent Father's Day 2012 hiking, mountain biking and exploring life in the Andes of southern Ecuador where we encountered numerous festivals, visited native markets, and happened upon a local "Festival de Maiz" where 20 native villages proudly set up tents to display their corn harvests, shamans conducted healings, and local dancers performed their regional music and dance.

It's amazing the ground you can cover in just a few days traveling through Ecuador, one of the world's most culturally and biologically diverse countries from the Galapagos Islands, to the Pacific coastal lowlands, Andean highlands, and the Amazon rainforest.

As President of the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association I came here to chair a board meeting of our professional organization dedicated to conervation and better tourism management in the archaepeligo. We heard from representatives of the World Wildlife Fund working in the islands for better nature-based tourism, the Director of the Galapagos Conservancy/Charles Darwin Station, and the local field Director of Wild Aid dedicated to enhanced quarantine methods to slow introduciton of invasive species being exacerbated by growing tourism and immigration of local Ecuadorians from the mainland..

There are many changes happening in Galapagos with so much land-based tourism; I'm convinced more than ever that yacht-based voyages are unquestionably the best way to experience the wildlife and this showcase of evolution that is Galapagos! Last year there were 170,000 visitors to Galapagos (more than twice the amount 10 years ago) and next year the new airport in Baltra will have a capacity of up to 300,000 visitors!

Another big change is the new airport in Quito scheduled to open October 2012. Located much further from downtown Quito, it is going to make it much more difficult and tiring to get into the city—a transfer of up to an hour or more after that long flight. That's one reason why I here exploring Cuenca as we are preparing to offer trips from the mainland out to Galapagos and back through the port city of Guayaquil instead of stopping in Quito. (All flights to Galapagos currently go through Guayaquil anyway.)

I have just spent several days exploring the beautiful colonial town of Cuenca and the highlands of this area of sounther Ecuador. It's only a 30 minute, $80 flight from Guayaquil to Cuenca and the area is so much less developed, more traditional, and more peaceful than Quito and the Otavalo region to the north.