Crossing the Equator in Ecuador On the list of things I am excited about when contemplating my trip to the Galapagos Islands, crossing the equator is not an entry. What is there really to trill about when passing over an imaginary line? So even though I am in a country called Ecuador and enjoying immensely…
Category: Galapagos Islands
The Mystery of Volcanoes
The Lure of Hot Lava Living in New York State, as I do, I haven’t historically had to worry much about volcanoes and the possibility that they might at some point obstruct my way, or worse. The first time I came across their devastation was on a long-ago trip to Italy where I toured Pompeii,…
Roughing It in the Galapagos Islands
Relocating Isn’t Quite the Same as Vacationing No matter where I go, I always try to picture myself living in that place, like by Hemingway’s pool in Key West, Fla., or with a little apartment by the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, or owning an antiques shop in Hamilton, N.Y. When I take the Youthful Adventurer…
The Bright Side of Death
I’ve never really understood the American method of mourning, kicking off with a somber viewing followed by an even more somber funeral. Let’s all wear our sad faces along with the black. This approach seems so incongruous to me given the religion it tends to be cloaked in. After death, heaven. If all of us…
Galapagos Graffiti: Who Would Mark Up Paradise?
As much as I enjoy some visually gratifying graffiti in urban areas, seeing it in the Galapagos islands is a little jarring. I understand there’s tension here that tourists do not necessarily see—pressure to fish, to provide jobs, to keep certain animals in and others out. I appreciate that the islands served a strategic purpose…
Traveling to Remember
Sitting at an outdoor café three blocks from the Rome Termini one morning 24 years ago waiting for my friend Julie to arrive, I had no appreciation of the folly of our planning. In the days before cell phones, all I knew for sure was that Julie was scheduled to arrive from the United States…
Is Ecuador Full of New Yorkers?
The Youthful Adventurer and I hadn’t even boarded the first plane on our journey to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador when I began to wonder whether I was heading to a tourist trap populated by visitors from the tri-state area. In line to go through security, we’d been just ahead of a rude, impatient, obnoxious…
Even Non-Birders Can Enjoy Galapagos
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…
Cruise Ships: Where Smaller Is Better
Cruising always promised glamour and excitement for me. My grandmother, tired of being married and with an empty nest, ran away, not to join the circus, but to sign on with a cruise line. I have yellowed postcards from her from points around the world. Even that old ’70s TV show The Love Boat promised…
Never Be the Slow Zebra
The Youthful Adventurer and I were snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands when we saw the shark. He kept swimming; we kept swimming. It was exciting to see one and good that he was a distance from us and that the water was clear. Afterward, I teased my son that I didn’t have to worry if…