Lifestyle
JOURNEYS
THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
When Bishop Tomás de Berlanga,
the first Bishop of Panama, stumbled upon the
Galapagos Islands by chance in 1535, he was less
than impressed.
Hoping to find islands rich in gold and silver, he instead found
rivers of hardened lava, dry, cactus covered expanses and –
worst of all - dragons that breathed smoke. His report to his
royal sponsors in Spain was succinct – this place is Hell.
Funny…when my husband Jamie and I sailed on an expedition ship into the Galapagos Islands last spring, we had a
very different view. We thought they were heaven on earth.
The dragons were still there in force – but they were far from
fierce. Marine and land iguanas in the Galapagos live such a
stress-free life that they grow huge – like scaly poodles - but
they’re completely harmless. Herbivores who munch on plants
and sea algae, these iguanas ingest so much salt in the vegetation that they have to expel it in tiny smoke-like puffs from their
eyes. You can see why old Bish Tomas was a little disconcerted,
but Jamie developed a serious passion for the scary, scaly guys
and now has an endless photo gallery of their charmingly
gruesome faces!
fall 2015 | wo magazine | 21