Even Non-Birders Can Enjoy Galapagos

(Last Updated On: December 6, 2020)
Ocean, cloudy skies, and an island in the distance in Galapagos Islands. Photo credit: L. Tripoli.

Cloudy in the Galapagos Islands. Photo credit: L. Tripoli.

I didn’t head to Ecuador to be at one with the birds. I’ve never been especially drawn to the things. I didn’t appreciate the claws on the parrots at Parrot Jungle. My grandmother’s caged parakeets—still singing despite their incarceration—annoyed me. I see sea gulls on the Jersey shore as scavengers for French fries.

Walking through parks in D.C., I’ll cling to your arm if we happened to walk through a flock of pigeons. Old ladies carrying sacks of bird seed scared me. Birds just aren’t my thing.

A sea lion in the Galapagos Islands. Photo credit: L. Tripoli.

In Galapagos, the animals aren’t afraid of humans. Photo credit: L. Tripoli.

The Galapagos Islands, for me, were more about snorkeling, and sea lions, and crabs, and volcanoes, and tortoises, and the equator. Darwin’s finches were hardly the draw. I enjoyed seeing a few penguins, creatures I hadn’t expected there, and was intrigued by the circles of bird guano that prevent ants and other predators from eating eggs in their nests.

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I was on a press trip, so I was there for work—to see the environment, to observe how the boat I was on was environmentally friendly. Yet I was also there for the hiking, the sunshine, the small-boat-in-a-big-sea adventure. I got that. But I also fell in love.

No matter how much one disdains the avian world, one can’t help but love the blue-footed booby. Its feet are the color of ’70s eye shadow. It’s as plain and easily dismissed as any number of birds, unremarkable to me, the non-birder, as any other—except for those bright webs.

I didn’t know when I was in Ecuador that those cute little boobies could be vicious little killers, willing to peck at their siblings to increase the odds of their own survival. Even their spunk attracts me.

A view of water, other boats, and land from aboard the Eric, which features solar panels. Photo credit: L. Tripoli.

The view aboard the Eric, which features solar panels. Photo credit: L. Tripoli.

Yet, even if your heart wouldn’t melt at the sight of one of these, the abundance of other wildlife and the pleasantness of hiking on islands with just a few others still make for a memorable, even life-changing, trip.

A blue-footed booby in the Galapagos Islands. Photo Credit: L. Tripoli.

A blue-footed booby in the Galapagos Islands. Photo Credit: L. Tripoli.

© Lori Tripoli

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3 comments for “Even Non-Birders Can Enjoy Galapagos

  1. Hi Lori, I saw this when you provided a backlink on the Huffington Post. You seem to have a lot of experiences! Do you do guest blogging? I don’t see many talking about eco travel like how you mentioned here.

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