The Galapagos originally formed around 5 million years ago, and were created by an oceanic hot spot, and still have yearly eruptions. While the island wasn’t colonized till much later, artifacts from pre-Columbian and pre-Incan periods have been found. That being said, a vast majority of visits before colonization were the result of shipwrecks from trade ships. (Galapagos Islands History)
The first western discovery of the Galapagos was by Tomas de Berlanga, who’s ship accidentally landed on one of the islands. His visit resulted in an evil association with the islands. He claimed that the island was “dragon-ridden” and full of volcanos. While the volcano claim was true, the dragons were merely large iguanas. For some time the islands also became a popular destination for pirates to hide and sneak attack trade ships carrying valuables. (Galapagos Islands History)
The Galapagos islands were eventually declared an Ecuadorian province in 1861. Mainlanders quickly rushed to the islands and pursued fishing. In 1959, 97 percent of the land became national park (World Map). This designation created a major shift towards where we are today. There has been a major shift in the economy of the Galapagos islands from fishing, to Ecotourism.
I was lucky enough to get a chance to visit the exclusive island this past summer. I got a closer look at the islands than most people are ever able to achieve. While there, I experienced natural beauty I hadn’t even come close to experiencing in my life leading up to the visit. But, I also found some unexpected and important things out about the island.
As mentioned before, the Island used to be centered around a fishing economy, but as the islands became more exotic, the main industry became ecotourism. Tourist shops lining the few streets, walkways on protected dunes, snorkel tours through shallow reef habitats. All of these locations are small physical monuments that fit into a larger story. The slow loss of what makes the Galapagos so exotic by welcoming people into the world of an ecosystem that went mostly untouched for most of human existence.
While there, I had the opportunity to interview multiple locals about the islands. Many of them hadn’t ever left their individual island community. They all had careers in ecotourism and loved their jobs. It seems that they all had a passion for teaching any visitors about their homes, and the beauty of the islands. One sentiment that it seemed almost all of them shared was the philosophy that there was no negative to ecotourism. The way they saw it, they were educating people about the islands and conservation. Only one of the interviewees had anything negative to say about the ecotourism industry on the island. His name was Humberto, and he admitted that the national parks association, while they wanted to keep the islands beautiful and exclusive, may not always have the best interests of the wildlife on the island in mind.
Upon doing more research, it seemed that the consensus was that while ecotourism was benefiting the Ecuadorian economy, it may be destroying the very thing that makes the island so precious. Tourism had brought in invasive species of animals and plants that have killed off native life that existed nowhere else on earth. The largest issue that the plagues the Galapagos islands is the influx of waste that tourists bring. Cruise ship leave mountains of plastics, forcing the islands to deal with the problem when the cruise ships set sail (The Impact of Ecotourism in Galapagos Islands: Latin Trails: Galapagos Islands).
Being there felt like a paradoxical situation. Exploring a place that was so beautiful and important because of its lack of human contact brought me to almost feel as if my visit was contributing to ruining the island. With every beautiful view, I wondered what animals had been removed from their homes to create the platform I was looking from. Each walkway made me consider the plant life that had been relocated or killed, just so the tourists would have steps to walk on.
This feeling is unlike any other. When visiting a location like the coliseum in Rome, tourists don’t often question the ethics of their visit. People atop the Eiffel tower probably aren’t thinking about the natural beauty that existed before the structure they stand on was built. Yet, a conscious ecotourist in the Galapagos must constantly reconcile their guilt for what they are doing to the island, and how their visit could very well be making the island worse for its original habitants.
This project is my way of monumentalizing that feeling of guilt and awe. Looking at something that is breathtakingly beautiful, yet knowing that your view was only made possible with the destruction of habitat and the removal and relocation of the native life which made it so beautiful in the first place. After viewing this project, I ask that next time you visit an unfamiliar place, and you find yourself with a breathtaking view, you stay conscious of the loss it took to achieve that view.
Works Cited
- “Galapagos Islands History.” Galapagos Islands History - The Story of a Living Laboratory, https://www.visitgalapagos.travel/info/history/galapagos-history.html.
- “The Impact of Ecotourism in Galapagos Islands: Latin Trails: Galapagos Islands.” Latin Trails Tour Operator | Galapagos Cruises | Galapagos Tours, 21 Sept. 2018, https://latintrails.com/the-impact-of-ecotourism-in-galapagos-islands/.
- “World Map.” World Atlas - Maps, Geography, Travel, https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/galapagosislands/galaptimeln.htm.
Credits:
Created with images by Frederico Gauz - "Abandoned Boat" • Vidar Nordli-Mathisen - "Queen Mary II"