Floreana Island
People come to Galápagos to discover a new and fascinating part of the world, but they bring the world to us on our ship as well, because while on board, we all get to meet very interesting individuals with amazing lives. During our week on the Polaris we enrich our knowledge, not only about natural history, but also about different cultures, different characters, and many other great places, as our guests are very well travelled people.
However, what is the relationship between that and the sally light-foot crabs of Floreana Island? None, or maybe, a lot. Sally light-foot crabs are not just unique to Galápagos, so while we were enjoying their bright coloration this afternoon, people commented about having seen them before, in Baja California for example. Then they talked about the great whales, the incredible Mexican food and the wonderful sunsets in the desert. Nevertheless today the “sallies” brought up something else to our conversation. There is a man on board who almost had to survive on them for a few days. This is one of our teachers on board, Luis Rosero.
Lindblad Expeditions has a wonderful program, the “Galápagos teachers on the Polaris” program. Whenever we have space available, we invite teachers from the few towns in the islands, to expose them to the wonders of their home archipelago. They share the experience with their students, and the word is spread out: Galápagos is unique therefore we need to take good care of it. Luis is a math teacher, 35 years old, born and raised in Santa Cruz Island. He had a dream: to walk along the whole coast of his home island, 975 square kilometres in area.
In February 2000 he organized an expedition with the support of the Galápagos National Park and the local government, and off he went, together with a few students and teachers. They had several projects in mind: to collect trash in those never visited coves along the island, to look for possible new sites to be used as recreational areas by the 12000 inhabitants of Santa Cruz, to learn about the beauty and uniqueness of the place, to plant the seed of exploration and discovery in the young people of Galápagos.
It took them 16 days to complete the walk. They were all in very good shape; anyhow they faced several challenges along the way: steep cliffs, uneven lava, and thick mangrove forests. When the provisions were in shortage, they started to look at the Sally-light foot crabs with eager eyes. They never had to get to the stage of cooking them though and did manage to complete their expedition. By today they have given several inspirational talks to many students in the islands, and now Luis has published a book narrating their experiences. This man is a dreamer, a great example of how one can accomplish any goal when one really desires it, a wonderful model for youngsters in Galápagos.
We get to meet so many interesting people on the Polaris…cheers to the sally-light foot crabs!
People come to Galápagos to discover a new and fascinating part of the world, but they bring the world to us on our ship as well, because while on board, we all get to meet very interesting individuals with amazing lives. During our week on the Polaris we enrich our knowledge, not only about natural history, but also about different cultures, different characters, and many other great places, as our guests are very well travelled people.
However, what is the relationship between that and the sally light-foot crabs of Floreana Island? None, or maybe, a lot. Sally light-foot crabs are not just unique to Galápagos, so while we were enjoying their bright coloration this afternoon, people commented about having seen them before, in Baja California for example. Then they talked about the great whales, the incredible Mexican food and the wonderful sunsets in the desert. Nevertheless today the “sallies” brought up something else to our conversation. There is a man on board who almost had to survive on them for a few days. This is one of our teachers on board, Luis Rosero.
Lindblad Expeditions has a wonderful program, the “Galápagos teachers on the Polaris” program. Whenever we have space available, we invite teachers from the few towns in the islands, to expose them to the wonders of their home archipelago. They share the experience with their students, and the word is spread out: Galápagos is unique therefore we need to take good care of it. Luis is a math teacher, 35 years old, born and raised in Santa Cruz Island. He had a dream: to walk along the whole coast of his home island, 975 square kilometres in area.
In February 2000 he organized an expedition with the support of the Galápagos National Park and the local government, and off he went, together with a few students and teachers. They had several projects in mind: to collect trash in those never visited coves along the island, to look for possible new sites to be used as recreational areas by the 12000 inhabitants of Santa Cruz, to learn about the beauty and uniqueness of the place, to plant the seed of exploration and discovery in the young people of Galápagos.
It took them 16 days to complete the walk. They were all in very good shape; anyhow they faced several challenges along the way: steep cliffs, uneven lava, and thick mangrove forests. When the provisions were in shortage, they started to look at the Sally-light foot crabs with eager eyes. They never had to get to the stage of cooking them though and did manage to complete their expedition. By today they have given several inspirational talks to many students in the islands, and now Luis has published a book narrating their experiences. This man is a dreamer, a great example of how one can accomplish any goal when one really desires it, a wonderful model for youngsters in Galápagos.
We get to meet so many interesting people on the Polaris…cheers to the sally-light foot crabs!
