JOIN US ON OUR GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN: LEARN MORE HERE

 

COVID-19 has not been good to Galapagos residents. Most of them depend directly or indirectly on tourism for their livelihoods. As of the 17th of March, tourism in Galapagos, like elsewhere, has been non-existent. Though no one knows for sure, and while the tourism businesses and employees cross their collective fingers and hope and prepare for the best case scenario, there is a chance that things will not return to normal for a long time yet.

While the islands have managed to keep the virus under control fairly well with rigorous quarantine and social distancing measures (approximately 100 cases ported, nearly half of which among the crew of the 100 passenger Celebrity Flora), residents face very difficult times ahead. Further compounding their difficulties is the high cost of food in Galapagos. Most of it is imported from the continent. Under these circumstances, people, young and old, will be losing weight in Galapagos in the coming months – that’s how dire things are.

There is an emerging effort to redirect resources to growing food locally, but this is only a partial solution. It will take time and not everyone has access to land. To make matters worse, COVID-19 struck just at the end of the rainy season, too late to seriously consider starting planting anything on a significant enough scale to make a difference for now.

 

Meanwhile, the national government is extremely cash-strapped. Its financial position is among the worst in South America – so much so that civil servant salaries are being slashed, the postal service shut down and embassies closed. Under these circumstances, people cannot rely on government support during hard times.

The Samba operations support 16 families in Galapagos. Those of the 9 crew members, of the 3 principal guides and of the 4 land-based support staff. Those who have embarked on the Samba in the past few years will have met 6 of the crew and a guide (crew members rotate of course, with 6 on board and 3 on leave at any given time). The crew (and guides) all receive nearly perfect reviews from our returning guests (see: Ship’s Crew Receives Near Perfect Score for more information). The 4 land-based support staff, dealing with logistics, administration and purchasing ensure that the operation sails along smoothly. The Samba has been officially recognized by the Galapagos National Park Service for its social responsibility (see this article which illustrates the rationale: NAVEDUCATION: Local Kids go on an Expedition Cruise).

Laura Sebastianelli and her husband Mike Sieracki travelled on the Samba in late 2019. Like just about all Samba guests, they had a trip of a lifetime. They had been very impressed by the dedication and professionalism of the crew and guide. When COVID-19 swept the world, their thoughts turned to the Samba team approached CNH Tours to explore options on how they could help. Together, we created a fund-raising campaign designed to support the 16 Samba team families food costs for up to 1 year.  Mike and Laura made the inaugural contribution of $500.   

That campaign was launched today. We hope to raise $96,000 ($6,000 per family) by June 20th.  We are reaching out to over 1,000 Samba alumni.  If you are a Samba alumnus and are interested in helping out, you can go to the dedicated GoFundMe page here.   Even if you're not, and you're keen on helping Galapagos residents get over this hump - do feel free to join in.  Helping any Galapagos family will help the community as a whole.

On behalf of the Samba team members and their families - thank you so much for your consideration.