Book Report: The Galápagos

12. Henry Nicholls, The Galápagos: A Natural History (2014)

I started reading this book on board the Samba as we spent two weeks sailing among the various islands of the Galápagos: Genovesa, Marchena, Isabela, Fernandina, Floreana, Santa Cruz, Floreana again, Española, San Cristóbal, Santa Fé, Bartolomé, Santiago, Rábida, and North Seymour. It was an amazing trip, and photos will follow (assuming I can schedule in the curating time: it's up to me!). Our capitán and guide, Juan Salcedo, was a font of knowledge and information, so I ended up relying mainly on his drawn-in-the-sand mini-lectures about all things evolution, Darwin, extinction, speciation, vulcanism, predation, island biogeography, birth and death—and so much more. Still, it was good to turn to this book again on my return home, and see many of the topics Juan had covered, all of which I could now put into context. I was there! I saw these things! 

The ten chapters cover, in order, rocks (vulcanism and plate tectonics), ocean (including the currents, Cromwell, Humboldt, and Panama, that define the hot-wet and cooler-drier seasons), seabirds (frigatebirds, tropicbirds, and boobies, among others), plants (think desert islands: plenty of prickly pear, for starters), invertebrates (land snails and butterflies), land birds (mockingbirds and finches), reptiles (iguanas land and marine, not to mention giant tortoises), and humans, parts I, II, and III.

Here's a brief excerpt from the prologue:

The landscape is both hostile and beautiful; the wildlife is sparse yet striking. Scientists have documented just over 4,000 species native to the Galápagos, around 40 percent of them endemic, found here and only here. It's not just this 40 percent, these 1,600 species, that owe their existence to the Galápagos. There are now around 30,000 people living in this far-flung constellation of islands whose livelihoods depend—either directly or indirectly—on the integrity of the ecosystem and the tourism-based economy it fuels.
     More widely, Ecuador cares deeply about this otherworldly territory it acquired in 1832. For its small size (occupying less than 2 percent of South America), Ecuador has an impressive range of habitats, making it one of the most biodiverse countries in the world (thought, for instance, to be home to almost half of all the bird species on the continent). Yet when it comes to international tourism, these other offerings just can't compete with the pulling power of the Galápagos. For many travellers, it's the sole reason for paying Ecuador a visit at all.

I've been to Ecuador twice now. The first time was for the birds, and that trip sent me east, into the Amazon basin. I am very glad now to have gotten a look at this distinctly different, and oh so special, landscape to the west. And thanks to Darwin, one might say, it's getting at least much of the protection it needs....