This May, we traveled to the Galapogos Islands 600 miles west of continental of Ecuador. We stayed on a sail boat along with 14 other travelers and a handful of crew for a few days, sailing from island to island. We saw some of the most incredible animals, visited the Charles Darwin research institute, ran on a beautiful white beach, snorkeled with sea lion pups, dropped off our postcard on the island of Florena, swam in a freezing cold lava cave on Santa Cruz island, and ate some delicious meals. And we can't forget the hawky-reproduction session we witnessed! Everyday was filled with activities and new things to see. Even the stars at night are brighter and closer. After a few days on the boat, not only did we drink up all the beer on the boat, John has officially become the bartender.A fellow traveler and a poet, David Haskins, wrote us the following poem:
"Everything is so close. To be in the company of animals who don't fear us or feel threatened by us - this must have been what the world was once, and here we have perhaps the only opportunity to relive that experience, the only one that makes sense for the planet. Such a privilege we have fled from in our mad dash to conquer and acquire ever
ything that insulates us from this. Manuel, almost 7 years old, knows about it. He plays in the surf, sits on the sand among the sea-lions, runs barefoot along the water's edge with Walter, his father and our guide, in what must be an idyllic childhood.
And for a few days, we are like him, given the chance to get back what we have turned away from, a sense of ourselves under the stars that hang over these islands, these hemispheres, and all that exists equally in the universe, and for that we are grateful.
Tonight the stars cleared the clouds away. I looked for the Southern Cross, but I couldn't be sure. But Orion, Ursa Minor, many of the stars that hang over these islands shine on my home also. So may the possibility of Galapagos."
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