Happy New Year from the Galapagos
January 10, 2008 – 5:58 pmWhat a strange and lovely place this is! The other day I walked several miles down a white sandy beach to a place called Tortuga Bay, where huge marine iguanas sun themselves on the volcanic rocks. These are the creatures that Darwin once called "stupid." Not so when it comes to territory. As I followed a footpath, two enormous males began stalking each other. The larger iguana suddenly pounced on the other, and they thrashed around in the sand, biting each others' backs and tails. Then they stopped and stood there nose to nose for a few seconds until the loser backed off one scaly step at a time. The alpha male had reclaimed his territory in a thicket of giant prickly pear cactus. I spent Christmas Eve with friends at a restaurant across the bay in Puerto Ayora. To get there I had to take a "water taxi." Stepping into ...