Food, Receipt and Restaurant

For travelers who want to explore the effects of sustainable tourism, the Galapagos Islands are a reminder that an invisible human footprint serves nature best. Check out our Web-exclusive photos!

Go There Get to the Galapagos :: Fly American or Continental Airlines from Miami or Houston to Quito, Ecuador (you will have to spend the night in Quito) and then to Galapagos the next morning on Tame or Aerogal airlines to Baltra. Every visitor has to pay an entrance fee of $100, some of which goes to pay for the upkeep of the islands and some towards facilities for the islanders, who number about 30,000. Eat :: Restaurante Aquelarre is a great place for groups to sate their hunger on Santa Cruz. Contact Osvaldo Donoso 48 hours in advance. :: selvapro@hotmail.com Stay :: Finch Bay Eco Hotel :: finchbayhotel.com Sail :: For info on Isabela II or Metropolitan Touring’s other vessels, visit the company’s Web site. :: www.metropolitan-touring.com Bring the Kids Onboard :: Yachts are not encouraged for children under seven, but this summer, Metropolitan Touring has introduced a Young Pirates program aimed at children ranging between seven to 12 years old and is planned to partially ease the responsibility of parents during the expedition trips aboard the M/V Santa Cruz, Yacht Isabela II and Yacht La Pinta â€" or land and sea programs with the Finch Bay Eco Hotel. :: www.metropolitan-touring.com Spend Time in Quito :: Ecuador’s capital, Quito, is being unveiled as a new, alluring city, a renaissance after a few years and several million dollars worth of renovations. Among the most impressive of the capital’s architectural treasures is La Compañia de Jesus, a church whose richly carved facade is the most ornate in the city, and the Monastary of San Agustin, Santo Domingo Church and the Moorish Basilica of La Merced. After a drive up to an observation point for a bird’s-eye view of the city’s layout, stroll along downtown Quito, founded by the Spanish on the ruins of an Inca settlement. Spend the night at the modern Hotel Le Parc, a unique, all-suite luxury boutique hotel with one of the best restaurants in the region, Sake, which serves Japanese gourmet and fusion cuisine. :: www.leparc.com.ec

The rain is coming down in buckets so it’s hard to see the sign that sits in a thicket of trees marking our mysterious lunch destination. Osvaldo Donoso, the architect, designer and co-owner of this openâ€"by-appointment-only hideaway in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, greets us at the door of Restaurant Aquelarre, his white hair wild with humidity. His co-owner and wife, Ruth, is away at the moment, but Donoso and his daughter are ready for our group of six hungry travelers with mora juice cocktails and a hearty lunch.

Aquelarre, he explains, translates to witch’s coven.

Do witches gather here? I ask.

“My wife,” he says, gesturing towards the expansive, glassed-in space, “is a good witch.”
I look around and see a broomstick or two hanging on the wall, but no bubbling cauldrons, just some whimsical artwork, plants and trees blowing wildly in the storm, and a plaque announcing that Charles Darwin actually didn’t spend as much time in the Galapagos as most people think.

Whether it was here in this highlands jungle refuge, or later that day, in the gardens of the Finch Bay Eco Hotel on the south shore of this island, a spell was definitely cast upon me soon after I set foot on Galapagos. This utopian colony, much like the moon if it were inhabited by wildlife, is like nowhere else on earth, a volcanic archipelago born of fire, surrounded by teeming marine life and sparse vegetation, and functioning in an ever-changing environment that explains the presence of both temperate and tropical weather species, all co-existing under the same gigantic cumulus clouds.

Where else can you find yourself within inches of a downy blue-footed boobie baby, face to face with a hammerhead shark or lounging on the beach, side by side with a family of Galapagos sea lions or giant tortoises, all of whom pay about as much attention to you as a preteen does his parents when he’s in the thick of a game of "World of Warcraft"?

Darwin wrote of his 19 days here that the country “was comparable to what one might imagine the cultivated parts of the infernal regions to be,” but that was in 1835 aboard the British naval vessel H.M.S. Beagle, and he was reportedly seasick most of the time. Darwin spent only half of his five weeks here on land on four of the larger islands, collecting dead finch specimens and taking notes that would two decades later provide the evidence for his theory of evolution, which has, since organized tourism began in the late 1960s, inflated the Galapagos to mythic status.

It deserves it, but not because Darwin came to understand from his time here that a species must evolve, or change, to continue to exist. It deserves it because whether you explore these islands by land or by sea, the enduring quality of a Galapagos traveler’s experience is a profound lesson about our relationships with other species, and therefore each other.

IF YOU PREFER TO SLEEP ON SOLID GROUND...
Set off from the newly renovated oceanview suites at the Finch Bay Eco Hotel â€" beyond the cacti and ferns and vines bearing the exquisite yet invasive passion flower â€" bananas, papayas, watermelons, cucumbers, and chile peppers are growing in the property’s own fruit and vegetable garden, which has, since September 2008, harvested 1,500 pounds of fresh produce that would have otherwise been imported from the mainland.

“Look at this,” says Xavier “Tito” Burbano de Lara, the hotel’s general manager, holding up a massive papaya as if it were one of his children. “It’s so beautiful. So sweet.” He points to the upcoming crop of watermelon, the ready-to-harvest peppers, a heavy, multi-tiered banana stem, explaining that much of the water used for irrigating these gardens comes from the hotel’s own sewage treatment plant, the only one that exists in Galapagos, or at any hotel in Ecuador.

The treatment plant, where active bacteria consumes biological waste before becoming treated water, allows the hotel to use recirculated brackish water in its well regulated swimming pool, and collected rain water (mixed with brackish water) for cleaning and watering, which has resulted in a steady reduction of its fresh water consumption. Additional machines for desalinization create a permanent supply of pure water, which is additionally filtered and has allowed the property to reduce its use of plastic bottles by 36%.

“It is our duty to become efficient in producing our own water,” says Burbano de Lara, explaining that hotel staff carefully monitor consumption in an effort to save energy. “Whether it’s green is not the issue. It is our responsibility. It is the intelligent thing to do.”

While Burbano de Lara is wary of the widely used terms “eco” and “green,” Finch Bay truly is an example of sustainable tourism, as evidenced both by its receipt of a Smart Voyager Certification, supplied to hotels and vessels in Ecuador that meet a set of strict conservation standards for protecting the environment, local wildlife and the well-being of workers and local communities, and its recent nomination for two World Travel Awards, the industry equivalent of the Oscars, for Ecuador’s Leading Resort and South America’s Leading Green Hotel.

Adding to its sustainability label, solar panels also supply energy to the hotel for water heating, and staff members are currently involved in the restoration of the native button mangrove habitat surrounding the hotel; by the end of this year, 500 mangroves will be planted to further support the ecosystem of the coastline.

Guests who choose to stay at this family-friendly property, which hugs a private beach across the bay from the seaside town of Puerto Ayora, can design their own itineraries, or book all-inclusive three-, four- or seven-night programs that allow them to explore the islands by foot or boat by day and return to the comforts of land by night. This is also a great choice for divers, who, because of strict park regulations, can only dive from licensed dive boats on certain islands.

Galapagos National Park Service regulates all visitor activities within the park’s 3,100-square-mile boundary (13 major islands, six smaller islands, 40 islets, and some 200 rocks), including the itineraries of the vessels. Visits within national park sites and the marine reserve are led exclusively by trained multilingual guides and naturalists who not only make sure visitors stay on trails and do not feed or disturb wildlife, but educate travelers about the fragile ecosystem and diverse land and marine species they will encounter.

Hotel guests can choose to mountain bike, kayak, scuba dive, snorkel, hike, relax by the pool, and explore the nearby islands on the hotel’s two yachts, the Sea Lion and Sea Finch. Typical land itineraries also include visits to a Giant Tortoise Reserve in the Santa Cruz Highlands and walks through the town of Puerto Ayora, the largest in terms of population and size in the Galapagos.

On our trek through town, sea lions and pelicans were lounging on the docks of the waterfront, but lining Avenida Charles Darwin were Internet cafes, restaurants, art galleries, and other shops bustling with tourists. At the far end of town is the Charles Darwin Research Center, where most of the endangered populations of Galapagos tortoises have been brought back from the edge of extinction through their breeding, rearing and repatriation program. The Pinta Island tortoise, however, is another story. Lonesome George, the last tortoise found on Pinta Island and thought to be somewhere between 60 and 90 years old, is a consequence of the mass slaughter of these remarkable creatures in the1800s, when whalers carried off thousands of the tortoises for their sweet meat and hunted them for oil.

Goats were also introduced to Pinta Island in the 1950s, leaving little food and no shelter for the tortoises, of which George may be the last survivor. Despite being part of the center’s successful captive-breeding program (he lives with two females from Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island who are considered his closest genetic relatives), George fails to show any interest in reproducing.

Not so with most other species here, which, on guided excursions to places like North Seymour, Plaza and Sante Fe Islands, proliferate. Finch Bay guests can observe large colonies of blue-footed and Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, magnificent frigatebirds, and land iguanas. Docked in sheltered locations in the Galapagos Marine Reserve, snorkelers can swim off the hotel’s two yachts with sea lions, fur seals and Galapagos penguins.

Dive packages, which provide full scuba gear and a divemaster or instructor, include 12 dives and highlight the best sites in Galapagos, where divers can expect to see eagle and manta rays; stingrays; hammerhead, white-tipped reef and Galapagos sharks; eels and giant sea turtles; and endemic fish such as scorpionfish, hieroglyphic hawkfish and cardinalfish, among many others.

“These are world famous dive sites because of the hammerheads,” says Burbano de Lara, who is also a PADI scuba instructor. “When you see those, you’ll never forget them.”

I look out to the pool and there is a great blue heron lounging in the shallow end. I know I prefer fish to birds, but I think in this moment, I prefer birds to sharks.
 
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO EXPLORE THE ISLANDS, YOU NEED TO STAY ON A SHIP.
I don’t know what is more frightening â€" the tsunami that gently passed beneath our yacht due to the earthquake off the coast of Chile, or the fact that the very next day, I am face-to-face with my greatest fear: a five-foot-long, white-tipped reef shark, which, like most of the wildlife I have encountered on this trip, seems indifferent to my presence. I stare at the shark, it seems to stare back, and I know that if I reach out my hand, I may actually be able to touch it. Or it may bite me. It’s the same experience I had with a giant tortoise the day before, and will have with sea lions, birds and iguanas in the days to come. The shark’s lack of fear seems to dissipate my own. Soon, I am comfortably swimming with sharks.

It is day two of five on board the 40-passenger yacht, Isabela II, and our highly knowledgable expedition leader, Klaus Fielsch, is, over the course of our time on board, explaining one of the great mysteries of the Galapagos: Why doesn’t the wildlife show any signs of fear from the presence of humans? Fielsch, the expeditions manager for Metropolitan Touring, which operates the Finch Bay Hotel and the Isabela II (along with two other vessels, the 48-passenger La Pinta and the 90-passenger M/V Santa Cruz), is hard to get a direct answer from. I’m starting to notice this about Ecuadorian men â€" they like to dance around straightforward questions, veer towards the metaphoric.

The explanation is actually more biologically complicated than one would think. Yes, despite the 160,000 visitors a year that walk the paths of the national park, the wildlife has never experienced man as predator (except for those tortoises in the 1800s). And yes, they coexist with many other species because they have almost no aggression between or among their own species, except for the hawk, who will weekly pick off a small iguana who has strayed from the group. After numerous requests for a theory, Fielsch finally explains that it comes down to this: Fear utilizes energy that wildlife with an uncomplicated food web does not need to expend. “They are not fearless,” he says. “They just don’t react to fear. Some consider it a neurological flaw, but in fact, it’s an incredibly efficient strategy for survival.”

Finally satisfied with the answer, I and my fellow travelers follow him onto the zodiac for a visit to Tower Island. Fielsch, along with other “twitchers” (what they call birdwatchers in England) from our group, is outfitted with his Leica trinovid 8X 32 binoculars, a worthwhile investment if you are going to make this trip. They are ready to check off from their long list of species to observe, the great frigatebird, the male of whom during breeding season, distends his striking red gular sac to attract a mate. We soon see the great birds nesting next to red-footed boobies. While snorkeling, fur seals and sea lions swim close to us, as well as a giant green sea turtle, and a colorful aquarium of spotted eagle rays, and parrot and puffer fish. Later in the day, after a gourmet lunch aboard the ship, we disembark on sharp rocks for a steep climb and then a one-mile walk to the other side of this small island to observe large colonies of masked boobies and storm petrals.

Our ship’s itinerary has two expeditions a day planned, before and after lunch, leaving plenty of time to relax in our private, spacious air conditioned cabins, on one of the three public outdoor decks, or in the ship’s library, where you can read up on your history or further investigate the species you have encountered during a journey to land. Shipmates from around the world, from Germany to England to Argentina, gather in the bar lounge, sun deck or dining room to trade tales of the day over delicious meals and buffets prepared by the ship’s chefs.

The next day brought us across the Equator to Isabela Island, where the emerald waters of Tagus Cove were once a favorite anchor for pirates and whalers. An uphill hike takes us to the back of Darwin Crater, one of Isabela’s six volcanos. After lunch, it’s a trip to Fernandina Island, the youngest of the archipelago with a lava flow less than 100 years old. Having no introduced mammals, Fernandina has a unique environment with a high density of land iguanas sharing their habitat with sea lions, bright orange and red sally-lightfoot crabs, penguins, and the flightless cormorant. Nowhere else but here is the human footprint so invisible that if you do not watch your step, you will actually walk onto a carpet of camouflaged marine iguanas snorting salt from their nostrils.

On James Island the next day, where most of the landscape is tuff-stone layers and lava flows, we see more marine birds, fur seals and marine iguanas grazing on algae beds. These iguanas have evolved to the point where they can swim underwater to eat algae off the rocks, and dispel the saltwater from their nostrils when back on land. That afternoon, we disembark at Bartolome Island for a hike to the summit. This steep climb aided by a wooden staircase offers perhaps one of the most famous views of the islands from the top, and despite the fact that the hike up has already made me breathless, the scenery from here simply takes whatever breath I have left, away.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AS MORAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Isabela II, which along with La Pinta and M/V Santa Cruz, also received a Smart Voyager Certification, offers four-, five- and eight-day expeditions year round, and like other Metropolitan Touring-owned vessels, adheres to the same strict environmental policies as Finch Bay. The ship has eliminated the use of two liter plastic bottles by using public water dispensers that can be refilled, and in July of 2009, La Pinta received a stock of eco fleece vests made from recycled plastic bottles and 87% recycled fiber.

Since 1968, Metropolitan Touring has sought to leave a positive environmental footprint in the communities it works with, as well as contributing to preserve the integrity of those communities’ ecosystems. The company, 12 years ago, established Fundacion Galapagos-Ecuador, the first-ever initiative by tourism’s private sector to help the Galapagos Islands preserve its fragile ecosystems. Its mission began as waste management of the islands, particularly the island of Santa Cruz, where most residents reside. They developed the Fabricio Valverde Center for managing solid waste, where plastics and cardboard are compacted and shipped back to the mainland for reprocessing and remanufacturing. Glass is milled and becomes artificial material for patio blocks that now cover parks and sidewalks on the islands.

Since the program was initiated, over 2,000,000 pounds of solid waste have been recycled. Environmental education encourages volunteers to conduct door-to-door campaigns that teach locals the benefits of classifying and recycling garbage, and their Coastal Cleanup program involves the collection of floating debris by volunteers and fishermen, who are offered an incentive to become involved. Waste is then processed at the recycling facility. Over 130,000 pounds of solid debris have been collected from the island shores.

There is also a social component that falls under the umbrella of sustainability, and Metropolitan Touring supports two key community projects: FUN Galapagos â€" which involves a local women’s cooperative, Manos Magicas, where women with sewing skills make Galapagos-related rag souvenirs filled with milled plastics from the recycling center, and Bread for the Future, a local bakery where fishermen’s wives produce and supply the local bread needs for the company’s tour vessels.

On our final night in Ecuador’s capital of Quito, after a glorious tour of the old Colonial city, its baroque architecture illuminated at night, we attend a cocktail party whose hosts include Roque Sevilla, the city’s former mayor and the chairman of the board of Metropolitan Touring. He is discussing some of the company’s upcoming projects, particularly a living laboratory in the heart of the Andean Rainforest called Mashpi Lodge, Rainforest Biodiversity Reserve.

Located in northwestern Ecuador, within a 2,620-acre private rainforest reserve, it is part of one of the most important global “hot spots” of biodiversity â€" the Tumbez-Chocó-Darién â€" and will serve to help the local community with its sustainability efforts. “We look for iconic places, places that are unique,” says Sevilla. “It is a privilege to become responsible for a place. But it is not our loyal responsibility, it is our moral responsibility.”

And when we travel, what is our moral responsibility? Is it to learn from the places we visit, lessons we can bring home with us? Spending time in the Galapagos, which appears to be a microcosm for the fragile state of the planet, the ability for species to coexist without aggression suggests that we too might think about transforming to the point where we do not act out of fear, but out of mutual cooperation. Now that would be evolution.