January 27, 2012

DAY 71


My last day in the Galapagos.

I have heard many stories and experienced more than I have written about. One interesting observation is the relationship between the tourists and the locals. The locals do not seem to like the tourists and most will never be able to afford the boat tours to visit the pristine beauty on the islands. Many of the average locals won't make in three months what is costs to go on one tour of the islands. From the attitudes, and my own interpretations of facial expressions, body language and how I see the locals act, I believe that they look at us as rich foreigners here using "their" place as a playground. But the only thing keeping this economy going is the tourist industry.

Most of the locals do not have much of an education, at least nothing beyond high school. Many research studies have shown that in general lower education signifies decreased awareness of a persons impact on the environment as well as other people. Basically they can have destructive behavior patterns and tend to be much more ego-centric. I know this is very subjective statement but I see most locals not only do not care about the preservation of these islands, they are actively destroying them.

The locals seem to want to rape the land just like many other people in the world who are motivated by money. There is a serious overfishing problem and many stories of the battles over the years. When regulations were passed to limit the numbers of sea cucumbers being harvested armed fisherman took over the Charles Darwin Research Center. They threatened to kill all the large tortoises and harm the staff members. Resorting to violence is typically a sign of operating by primative behavior patterns void of rational thought. There are many other stories too such as overfishing sharks just for the fins to make shark fin soup and I could go on but I won't.

I love the islands here but I see there is a rapid loss of many species due to what the locals are doing here. Although I love cats and dogs I think they need to either be banned from the islands or have some sort of strict controls. There is a large feral cat problem now and it has almost wiped out one species of the Darwin Finch.

Anyway, I have been disappointed in the attitudes of many local people I encountered here. I know this a a gross generalization because in all actuality most people in Latin America are very warm and friendly.

my outer journey has been fun
the inner journey is difficult

I could easily only write and share the outer journey
that would be more comfortable for me and most likely for those reading it too. Most people who go on trips portray it as fun. You see pics of them having fun, they write about all the fun as if it is one long series of fun, fun, fun. Most people do not write about the times they are not having fun, when they feel pain, sadness, loneliness etc...

 

 


but isn't this just sweeeet....

 

 

 

 


having lunch with a Darwin's Finch, this little guy changed the world. The thoery of evolution was primarily based on the finches

 

 

 


a cactus flower

 

 

Feel free to leave a comment below if you like or dislike anything

or just say "hey you, get a job or something"

 

 

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