Growing up on Galapagos

Whenever I tell people that I was born in the Galapagos Islands, they always say, "I didn't know there were any people on the Galapagos. I thought only strange animals lived there." To which I usually respond that people (strange and not-so-strange) also made their way to the islands over the years.

Click here to see a clickable map of the Galapagos Islands.

The islands were unpopulated for centuries, although they were not unknown. There are oral accounts of one Inca ruler who made his way here on a raft, and the first written chronicle comes to us from the Bishop of Panama, whose ship was blown off course in 1535. The misplaced cleric and his party loaded up on water, looked at the volcanic terrain and the strange creatures decided it reminded them of hell, said mass on the beach and promptly left.

In the following years the islands became the refuge of pirates and buccaneers, and came to be known as "Las Encantadas" or "The Enchanted Isles". Later, in the 18th and 19th centuries whalers made the Galapagos a way station where they provisioned themselves with water and giant tortoises which they carried as a meat supply.

In 1832 the newly independent government of Ecuador took possession of the Archipelago; then in 1835 a young Englishman by the name of Charles Darwin came calling, and the rest is history.

Among the more colorful human specimens in the Galapagos saga stands the legendary tyrant Manuel Cobos who planted sugar cane and ran a sugar mill and a railroad in San Cristobal Island. (He used prisoner labor, and was killed during an uprising).

In the 1930's several Germans took refuge in Galapagos, fleeing from Hitler's Germany. Prominent among them the Wittmers and the Angermeyers whose descendants still live on the islands. Mrs. Margret Wittmer wrote "Post Office Floreana" about her experiences. There were also a couple of "pre-hippies", Ainslie and Francis Conway, formerly of Berkeley, California. She wrote a book about their adventures, "Las Encantadas."

Both authors mention my father, Lt. Col. Alejandro Alvear, who was appointed "Jefe Territorial" or Military Governor of the Archipelago in 1939.

(My father, Lt. Col. Alejandro Alvear (third from left) and my older sister Alexandra with his staff in Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristóbal Island, Galápagos)

When he, my mother Laura Triviño de Alvear and my older sister Alexandra, arrived in 1939, Baquerizo Moreno in San Crisóbal Island was a small village of bamboo, lumber and corrugated-iron huts. There were only 800 people living in the whole Archipelago. My parents lived in a wooden house facing "Shipwreck Bay" (with a front porch view of the site where on January 16, 2001 an old tanker the "Jessica" ran aground spilling bunker fuel ). That's where I was born and where I spent the first two years of my life.


(My dad wheeling me around with Darwin and the old pier in the background.)

Although I was never more than a toddler there, I know that we spent most of the days at the then pristine beach. There were sea lions and iguanas on the nearby rocks and we watched the blue-footed boobies as they dove in swarms to catch fish for their dinner.


(My sister Alexandra on the rocks in front of our house.)

In the summer of 1996 I returned to Galapagos with a group of friends. As we approached San Cristóbal a group of dolphins rode the bow wave. They are magnificent creatures in their natural habitat: powerful and playful, enjoying an afternoon romp in the turquoise waters. Our squeals of delight seemed to encourage them to do even more elaborate somersaults, to flip over and then to look up at us to check our reactions.

The Galapagos were declared a national park in 1959, and in the 1960's tourism to the islands started to grow and produce significant revenues for Ecuador. There are now about 160,000 annual visitors, and the local population now numbers 30,000 spread over five populated islands. There are still animals in this most populated island of the archipelago, including sea lions.

Although the Galapagos National Park and the Darwin Foundation are making efforts to protect the fragile environment from the impact of the human species, it is challenging to maintain this balance. One related story is that of famous giant tortoise "Lonesome George", the last of his species to inhabit Pinta Island.

George now lives in Santa Cruz Island, where the Darwin Foundation cares for him. Efforts to find him a suitable mate have not succeeded, but there may be some hope: recently another male tortoise was found with half of the genes of George, so now the search is on for a female equivalent to try and save George's species. And scientists believe George may have impregnated a female tortoise.

Challenges

Some of the people who live in the Galapagos are fishermen. It has been difficult for them to accept governmental regulations as to the time and amount of fish and crustaceans they can harvest. In the past they have staged uprisings to protest the end of the lobster season and the constrains on the harvesting of sea cucumbers. They resent what they perceive as a policy that favors animals over people. There has also been resentment by islanders over the profits generated by the tourism industry which they feel favors well established mainland operated tour companies. Efforts are underway to find solutions to these problems.

Tourists come here because they love the animals and the wildness of the several islands that are still uninhabited. But it is unfortunate that the fuel that is leaking out of the ancient tanker "Jessica" was intended to fuel tourist boats. The tourism boom has helped the economy, yet has also caused migration from mainland Ecuador to the islands, which puts additional stress on the ecosystem.

Consider that in 1978, UNESCO declared the Galapagos a World Heritage Site, and called its marine reserve "a treasure of the world". But in 2007, UNESCO joined the government of Ecuador in declaring the islands "at risk."

The Future of Galapagos: Its Children

My father built the first school in the islands. It still exists and bears his name "Escuela Fiscal No. 1 Alejandro Alvear". There are 450 students in grades K-8.

These children are the future of Galapagos and I hope they grow to realize that they are the guardians of a natural treasure. I go back every year and visit with them.

I am working on a project to bring modern computers and an Internet connection to this school. It is my belief that as the children of Galapagos learn more about the world, and connect with children in other countries, they can grow to realize how much the islands are loved.

I hope that this knowledge and interaction can inspire them to become good stewards of Galapagos, in partnership with friends of Galapagos from around the world. - Cecilia Alvear

For Further Reading:
Galapagos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galapagos

UNESCO > World Heritage Sites > Galapagos: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1

Iguanas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanas

Dolphins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphins

Tortoises: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise

Lonesome George: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geochelone_nigra_abingdoni

Giant Tortoises: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_tortoise