Tortoises, Iguanas and bays of blue

Part 3 of my trip to Ecuador/The Galápagos

27/4//2024

It’s 6.30am and I tuck in to my breakfast.

Today, it’s watermelon, scrambled eggs and a warm bread roll. I’ve decided to make a habit of getting up at 6 to take in the sunrise in this mesmerising place. My host, Ivan pours me fresh Guanabana juice as I contemplate the day ahead. Just yesterday, I had no idea such a fruit even existed, yet here I am, enjoying its curious sweetness. How many other delights in life exist that I am yet unaware of? How many more empty glasses are waiting to brim with new joy?

Before I head out for the day, I climb into one of the hammocks and spend a few moments blissfully suspended in both mind and body. As seabirds call and dragonflies hum, I consider that if time is a education, ‘Now’ is my new teacher. I am enrolled and enthralled in an engaging class of presence.

I have brought no make up or fancy clothes with me to Ecuador. I decided South America must meet me exactly as I am - raw and unpolished. Whilst the harsh sun is unforgiving of fifty years of well earned lines and the eye bags that come with jet lag, I feel myself exuding a new radiance. My skin is no longer something to decorate, but rather, a lantern my soul takes great pride in illuminating. I am no longer masked, but lit.

I gather my scant necessities for the day, fill my water from the cooler and head into Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

There are no public buses on San Cristóbal, indeed many places can only be accessed if you are accompanied by a certified guide. Other than by foot or tour, Taxis seem to be the most popular way for visitors to explore.

I flag one down and ‘Fredy’ is happy to oblige my request of a trip to the highlands to see the giant tortoises. Around forty years old with cascading thick black hair, a broad open face and mischievous, laughing eyes, I instantly warm to his zeal and sense of fun. We have a brief chat about what I will pay, what I can expect and off we go!

Fredy is a chatterbox, like me. As we depart, he launches into nuggets of local history, pointing out impressive flora and fauna. We make Spanglish in the spangliest way, he wants to improve his English, and I my Spanish. Each word is a star with points to behold, whilst sentences are picked apart as juicy, shining bones. Conversation flows as we pass fleeting yellow butterflies and roadside stands that sell bananas.

First stop is El Junco, a defunct volcano, hosting a crater freshwater lake.

“I will wait here in the carpark whilst you walk the trail, take some photos and come back”

He says casually.

I am a little nervous at the prospect. What if he isn’t there when I return to the carpark? I mean….. bloody hell, I’m a bit out on a limb here…..

Logically, I mull it over and decide that should he ditch me, eventually another cab with tourists would turn up anyway, right?

Up I go! It is cooler here than the coast, especially early in the dewy morning. The scent of damp earth rouses my nostrils as I observe the fern clad hillside wearing cloud as an ethereal cape.

In the video below, you can see my view.

“Some days you can’t see anything apart from cloud” he has told me, but is walking through cloud, not in itself magical? You see the eerie broth before you, but never quite pin it down, a mystical white stag of the sky. A reminder that nature is always one step ahead.

I head back down the track, the rough and sometimes slippery terrain makes me glad I brought along my trusty Doc Martens. As I reach the bottom, I’m relieved to see Fredy revving up the engine of his white pick up. Off we go to see the giant tortoises!

Fredy warns me not to eat the green fruit in abundance that look like miniature apples. Ooh, it’s all a little bit ‘Eve’ isn’t it?

“They are very toxic to humans but you will see the tortoises love them very much, they are tortoise chocolate!”

Once again, he waits in the carpark whilst I have a wander round. I am a little disappointed it’s a breeding centre rather than ‘the wild’ but am told they release them on the other side of the island where there are wild ones because they are trying to increase the numbers. I see many giant tortoises, including two mating. It’s crazy to think that most of these guys are older than I am! There are strict rules in place about keeping a two metre distance from all Galápagos animals, but still, I talk to them, smile at them and listen in amazement to their noises. What sounds they are too - as I hear them crunch food and make strange muffles and grunts, the pad of each gritty tread. Each manoeuvre feels like watching a dinosaur, the arching of the neck, the deliberate, plodding gait, all in hypnotic slow motion. Their eyes remind me of those of newborn babies, the way they house both bright innocence and ancient knowing in the same sacred sphere.

I climb back into the truck and as we drive back, Fredy tells me how for years he worked on boats and only became a taxi driver quite recently. He speaks with much affection about his wife and 5 children.

“Family is everything. Although I miss the boats, in this job, I now get to spend more time with them, so it is worth it.”

A brief stop at a pristine, white sand beach is made and I am safely delivered to my hostel.

“Have my card” says Fredy.

“That way, if you know someone who is coming here, you can tell them about me”

Hmm……that’s highly bloody unlikely, I think, seeing as I have never once personally met a single person who has been here. But I take the card anyway. You never know, hey?

Maybe someone reading this very Substack will be inspired to travel to San Cristóbal. And with 5 kids to provide for, I am sure he will be grateful of any work you can put his way.

28/4/2024

I have decided that because I have so little time here, I don’t want to spend it in transit seeing other islands when there’s so much here already. I start the day by walking 40 minutes to a quiet beach. I take my time, taking in the blossom and unusual birds.

And then, as I’m just minutes away from the beach, I bump into not one, but three of these guys.

How they fascinate me, their faces fierce and animated as northern bulldog women, proudly wearing spiked crowns of punk rocker ‘hair’. Long charcoal ‘fingers’ splay from stocky, scaly limbs, whilst liquorice tails lash behind as thick black whips. You can see them all here.

I change into my swimsuit, bracing myself for the cool relief of the sparkling sapphire before me. How I burrow my tired heels in the sand, contemplating how each tiny fragment was once a harsh black rock or delicate pink shell.

Are humans like rocks and shells too? As life pummels and bashes us, do we also become more rounded, have our sharp edges ground down and bevelled? And if so, which is greater, the rock/shell, so striking and aesthetically pleasing as the gift of peak youth, or the smoothed down grains that better know their place in the universe, the beautiful paradox that we are both meaningful and meaningless.

Paddling turns to wading turns to life affirming, full bodied swimming. I lose myself in breast stroke, my hands meeting in grateful praise before pushing away all that holds me back.

Finally, I walk back. I go barefoot part of the way because the temperature is not yet scorching but the coaxing warm of an inviting sunny porch. I enjoy the charge as my flesh connects to earth. I consider the poetry of the soles of my feet meeting souls beneath my feet, that all those who once walked as I do now, turned to - or will become - specks of dust. But it’s not a dark thought. I reflect upon the word ‘grounded’. When we touch the earth bare, we surely connect with the sum of that wisdom and greatness.

As I stroll, one final pleasure awaits me. This.

I’ve no idea what it is, but watching it hover and sip the magenta bloom, enchants me.

And maybe that’s the best kind of wonderful - not needing to know exactly what something is, to label or define. To be content in the calm it brings you, and that be enough.

All was well

Young day wore spark in shining hope

My eyes, two emeralds gleaming

A finest hour of great escape

Sent demons idly dreaming

And whilst they slept, my angels wept

Whole tears of pearl relief

Their swollen hearts my pillow

As I basked in self belief

The sunlight strong, as finches

Flitted gold from tree to tree

Flecks of glitter, life unfettered

Calling playfully

I caught my awe in cobalt spell

My skin wore tan and blushes

Inhaling peace as all was well

I washed my woe in wishes