I had the opportunity to share a walk with a good friend of mine, Michael Jackson, who happens to be a well-known author, excellent teacher, great naturalist and for this week, one of our lecturers on board the National Geographic Endeavour. We both visited the National Park Tortoise Breeding Center at Puerto Ayora in the company of our guests, who showed so much interest in learning about the Galapagos conservation efforts, and of course, about the giants of this archipelago.
It was delightful to share as friends all we know about this place. Michael came to the islands 33 years ago as a naturalist guide, and walked the trails and interpreted nature, as I do nowadays. He later wrote the book which became our “Bible” during the National Park Guides’ course, and he keeps returning back to the islands, as he, like many of us, got bewitched by their uniqueness and magic.
Guests wanted to learn about Diego, one of the three males, parents of more than 1,500 tortoises that have been already repatriated to Española Island. We saw tortoise hybrids, and learned about the land iguana breeding program as well. And of course, our hearts were very much touched by the baby tortoises from San Salvador Island, which is Lindblad-National Geographic adopted program. It was a lovely morning, with mist cooling off the air, with optimisms as we learned about the successful stories.
Before lunch, some of us visited the Tomas de Berlanga School which is immersed in a native-endemic forest in the highlands of Santa Cruz. It was founded in 1994 by a group of Galapagos residents, convinced that improving education was a requisite for a more sustainable place. The educational philosophy of the school combines the pillars of critical thinking, bilingualism, high academic standards and experimental learning, with the values of respect, responsibility, tolerance and solidarity. And so today they have launched a new educational model that Lindblad-National Geographic truly believe is educating the future leaders of these islands. We contribute with scholarships, as 30% of their students would be unable to attend the school without financial support. It was gratifying to walk along the classrooms, literally within the forest, with kids greeting us both in English and Spanish, learning from them about their particular projects. Yes, more inspiration, more certainty in the good future of this archipelago.
To complete the good day, and after lunch, we found dozens of tortoises roaming in the wild, in a green field of native vegetation. I can sleep well tonight, I can definitely be optimistic for my islands and for my planet.
