The UK based Galapagos Conservation Trust holds an annual Galapagos photo contest.  The BBC covered the winners in a recent article.  Click here to see it. 

We agree with the #1 selection - it's our favourite as well.   A tiny delicate Galapagos storm petrel skips over the sea, held aloft by the slightest breeze, picking up any tidbit it can find.  So fragile, yet so robust.    Our CNH Tours artist, Magno Bennett, captured a very similar scene in one of his paintings, the one we use on our "CONTACT" page.  You can compare the two below.

Photo by:  McKenna Paulley

Our "CONTACT" page banner (Magno Bennett)

This article appeared in the New Yorker recently - explaining how biological control might be the best way to deal with the Philornis downsi parasitic fly (introduced accidentally to Galapagos years ago),which lays eggs in birds' nests, and whose larvae feed on chicks, most often killing them.   It's not a pretty story, and it's one that the Darwin Foundation has been working on as well.   It's also a good example of how apparently harmless organisms (in this case, what looks very much like a house fly) can be responsible for the extinction of iconic species.   Cross your fingers!

Click here to read the New Yorker article. 

Below, three Philornis downsi larvae feed on a Galapagos finch chick (thank you to the Darwin Foundation for the picture)

2017 is the 150th anniversary of Canada's confederation, when separate provinces agreed to join together under one political entity.   Ottawa has been celebrating in style, and one of the many ways it has been doing so is the "Ottawa Welcomes the World" series of national days held in the city.   Ecuador day is on 11 August.    The embassy of Ecuador in Ottawa turned to CNH Tours to make a presentation on the Galapagos Islands on that day.  

We are very honored to accept that invitation and look forward to meeting people interested in one of our planet's most iconic wilderness areas.

This is the 2nd time we present to Ottawa audiences (this is not a sales pitch, but rather an introduction to Galapagos for the beginner, with extensive Q&A sessions afterwards).   We'd love to present in your neighbourhood as well - assuming you don't live too far...

For more information, click here.

Our 18 year old son, Émile, arrived in Galapagos yesterday to start his 6 week volunteership with the Charles Darwin Station's communication team.  He'll be helping our former colleague, Paola Diaz in the creation of new communications videos.   Émile was born in Quito and spent the first 3 years of his life in the islands.  He learned how to walk on lava rocks. 

Since he was 12 or 13, Émile displayed an interest in video production and edition.  He was accepted into his high school's Artistic Excellence Centre, allowing him to pursue his interest there over the past 2 years.   We hope he'll be able to apply his skills to help further the Darwin Station's objectives.

Apart from his regular volunteer responsibilities, we have asked Émile to get to know the islands and the people and to improve his Spanish language capabilities.  In his spare time, we've also asked that he say hello to many of our partners - hotel, restaurant and ship owners.    

As a token of our appreciation, Émile brought down with him a new iMac computer to help with the Darwin Station's communication efforts (scroll down for picture).

Enjoy your summer Émile!

PS:  Here is the Darwin Station Director's "thank you" email:

From: Arturo Izurieta [mailto:arturo.izurieta@...
Sent: July-19-17 9:41 AM
To: Heather Blenkiron <hblenkiron@cnhtours.com>
Subject: Thanking you so much

 Dear Marc and Heather,

With this letter I send my sincere thanks on behalf of the entire CDF team for your very kind donation of both the computer and Emile’s stay with us here at the Research Station.

It’s a great joy to have Emile here working with us and we look forward to his contribution to our work and success. The CDF is expanding once more, with the corresponding need for additional resources, and so this donation of equipment is a tremendous help, in particular for the growing communications team.

Once more, from all of us here in Galapagos, thank you for your generosity and support. We look forward to seeing you in November!

Un abrazo,

Arturo Izurieta V, Ph.D
Director Ejecutivo / Executive Director
Fundación Charles Darwin para las Islas Galápagos
Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands
www.darwinfoundation.org

Émile (2nd from left), Paola (left) and the communications team at the Darwin Station, showing off the newly installed iMac yesterday.

We are pleased to report that on the 20^th of June, Marc Patry (co-owner of CNH Tours with Heather Blenkiron) was elected to the board of directors of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO).   Of the 15 positions on this board, only 3 are elected by the 2,400 travel agencies in Ontario, who are obligated to be registered under TICO.  All the others are appointed by either the Minister of Government and Consumer Services of Ontario or by industry associations. 

TICO is an organization mandated by the Ontario government to administer the laws and regulations governing travel agencies with offices in Ontario, ranging from small home-based internet agencies (like CNH Tours) to the much larger corporate entities such as Carlson Wagonlit and Expedia Cruise Ship Centers.  In addition, TICO administers an industry-financed Travel Compensation Fund.

Besides attending and contributing to overall TICO governance issues during regular board meetings, the position requires engagement in various working committees.  It will be a busy time for the next three years.

Thanks to "El Telegrafo" daily paper in Ecuador and Google Translate for the following:

We can't guarantee you'll have this opportunity - but some of you will.  Our son was in the Galapagos on the Samba (this was already 2 years ago), and the ship came across a very large group of dolphins (not too uncommon in Galapagos).   Juan Manuel Salcedo, the Samba's principal guide (and co-owner) ordered all engines stopped, and suggested that people might want to jump in and "make like a dolphin".  Our son was an enthusiastic participant and managed to make this video of his experience.

CNH Tours has just completed the first ever quantitative analysis of Galapagos visitor site quality.   For years, people have been asking us: “Which is the nicest visitor site?”; “Where’s the best snorkeling?”; “Is this itinerary better than that one”.    Our answers have always been very much based on our own judgement and limited experience – taking into consideration the fact that we have not been to each of the 54 visitor sites surveyed in our analysis.  

How did we do it?   We asked 12 naturalist guides, with a combined 231 years guiding experience in Galapagos, to rate visitor sites on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the poorest) against 5 specific criteria:

1. Iconic species: The likelihood of seeing relatively rare but iconic Galapagos species (e.g. giant tortoise in the wild, penguin, flightless cormorant, flamingo, land iguana)
2. Biodiversity: The abundance and diversity of plant and animal life, not necessarily iconic.
3. Striking vistas: The likelihood that visitors will be taking pictures of the landscape at a particular site.
4. Beach quality: The quality of a beach for playing in the sand, sunbathing, swimming, relaxing.
5. Snorkel quality: The likelihood of seeing rich and diverse underwater life.

It’s important to note that the results paint a broad, general picture, and contain plenty of “wiggle room” in terms of actual visitor experience, with some variability due to seasonal wildlife fluctuations and to simple chance of seeing, or not seeing some species on a particular day (Punta Suarez’s iconic waved albatross is a seasonal visitor, for example), or simply due to personal preferences.   For this reason, it is better to use the ratings as a general indication and not as an absolute measure.   For example, the #4 site is not necessarily worse than the #1 site, but you can be confident that it is among the top sites for a particular critera.  

The ratings do not take into consideration cultural or historical attributes of the sites.  Some sites might have little appeal for wildlife, but are steeped in history (Post Office Bay, Floreana Island for example). In the lists below, those sites presenting cultural or historical interest are demarked with an asterisk.  

Based on our painstaking work (3 years in the making!), here are some results of interest:

TOP 10 SITES FOR ICONIC SPECIES:

 TOP 10 SITES FOR BIODIVERSITY

TOP 10 SITES FOR STRIKING VISTAS

TOP 10 BEACHES

 TOP 10 SITES FOR SNORKELING

TOP 10 SITES OVERALL:

We've been told that a new regulation is now in place regarding entry documents for arrivals into Ecuador. Anyone who enters the country  as a tourist must now have public or private health insurance for the duration of their stay in Ecuador. If you cannot provide proof of such insurance, the immigration agent has the power to deny you entry into the country.  

So, be ready to show any travel medical insurance documents you may have - and if you haven't purchased any, you might want to show your national health card or something similar.   

I do find it hard to believe that people without such documents will now be systematically turned back upon arrival - but it doesn't hurt to be ready to show the immigration clerk the right piece of paper (or plastic).

Peruvian wildlife authorities found 29 small tortoises (about 3-4 years old based on photographs I've seen) -- two of them dead -- in a cardboard box on a bus on its way from northern Peru to Lima.

Officials made the discovery while working to identify a suspected international wildlife trafficking ring, which has a route from Peru to the European black market.

Galapagos park officials said genetic studies will be necessary to determine the zone of the archipelago they were taken from.  It's not likely they were stolen from any of  the three tortoise breeding centres - where they are carefully monitored.  

The tortoises will shortly be going back to their islands.

Our Active Galapagos "Covington " group was on top of Pichinca Volcano today, just above Quito.  The view looks FABULOUS!  Quito installed a new cable car from the city all the way up to the top of the mountain.  Our city tour, part of our Active Galapagos trip, includes a trip up to the top on clear days (otherwise, it's just not worth it - and on those days, we spend more time focusing on the treasures of the most beautiful capital city in South America).   Today was such a day - that's Quito down below (Quito is at apx. 9,000 feet / 2,800 metres altitude).    The group just arrived yesterday - and today is what we call their "cushion" day, designed to buffer any mishaps in travel logistics getting to Ecuador (e.g. missed connections, lost luggage etc...).  At the crack of dawn tomorrow, these folks will be heading to Galapagos to embark on the Samba for an adventure of a lifetime.  

Ecuadorians went to the polls last Sunday for the 2nd round of presidential elections.  Former president Correa of the party Alianza Pais (AP), had been in power for 2 terms (under the new constitution) and could not present himself again.  The candidate for AP, Lenin Moreno (a former VP for AP), was just short of the minimum 40% threshold required to win outright during the first round a few weeks ago, and so a 2nd round had to take place.

Correa was a big, charismatic personality - hosting a weekly TV show always held in a different town, showing him interacting with locals and showing off his government's achievements.  Under his government, I saw massive infrastructure investments that transformed at least those parts of the country I know -  but my contacts in Ecuador also tell me there was waste and corruption and a skyrocketing national debt.  

Ecuador counts on oil exports to fund its spending, and the dramatic drop in prices have not made things easy.  One measure imposed to compensate for lost revenue was a hefty import tax that did not please those who are best placed to enjoy imported products.  This also created some inflationary pressures, as prices jumped.    Similarly, there is an export tax on any funds sent out of the country.  

The National Electoral Commission declared Lenin Moreno the victor on Monday - eliciting significant protests from Lasso supporters, who accuse the Commission of having fixed the results.   Apparently, exit polls had been showing Lasso with a measurable lead over Moreno.

As I write this, I don't have a clear sense as to whether the disgruntled voters convinced that their election has been stolen will organize themselves to exert sufficient pressures on the government to respond.   For the time being, I'm sensing frustration, a call to action in some quarters - but no organized response.  

What does this mean for visitors to Galapagos?  Based on my 20 years' experience in Ecuador, the likelihood of any disruptions are small.  I have witnessed the overthrow of a few governments, the running out of the country of a president (with whom I had been meeting in his office 3 days earlier), fishermen uprisings in Galapagos - and rarely has this affected a visitor's itinerary or plans.  

Our local tourism partners in Quito and in Galapagos are used to this kind of thing and know how to handle situations, should any arise.   I would suspect, with all due respect to my disgruntled friends in the country, that notwithstanding a few agitated demonstrations, things will remain quiet as usual. 

It was barely a week ago that the New York Times published a good story on blue footed boobies.  And today, they published another one on giant tortoises, with a focus on the return of the embalmed Lonesome George, and his more successful (on a reproductive basis) cousin, Diego.  A good read for those preparing a trip.   Click here to see it. 

The beloved blue footed boobies of Galapagos were featured in today's New York Times.  As I cannot think of outdoing NYT reporting and attempt to re-interpret the article here, I've simply made a link to it so that you can have a look for yourself.

Click HERE to see the NYT times article.   Worth a read (for those with a trip to Galapagos still in the future, you'll be able to impress your naturalist guide with the latest quirky knowledge on booby behaviour!). 

David Crowley and his father joined us on an Active Galapagos cruise in 2015.  Of course, they had a trip of a lifetime!  David was so smitten with Galapagos that he got the nature conservation bug.  Being an aficionado of drone based photography, he proceeded to set up his own conservation NGO, Aerial Conservancy (www.aerialconservancy.org).  Pining for a chance to do some work in the islands, he contacted CNH Tours to see if we could help him find a way to do so.   The story below, in his words, explain how that turned out.

           Ever since I was lucky enough to sail the Galápagos Islands with Juan Salcedo on the Samba in the spring of 2015, I was captivated. Thus, as any persistent and determined teenager my age would, I incessantly emailed Heather Blenkiron— who originally booked my previous cruise— for an internship. After frequent correspondence with Heather, and Juan himself, I finally received the news I had been longing for: an invitation to join the Samba crew once again for two weeks over the 2016 summer— circumnavigating the entire archipelago. Being an avid traveler myself, I have been to many places, but with Juan as my guide I could experience more of the Islands than the average tourist— with paddle boarding along a pod of dolphins and spotting a newborn humpback whale calf being the most memorable.

            The time that I spent in the islands gave me the opportunity to see the other side of the Samba operation, to see how the crew functions behind the scenes, and to truly see Juan’s expertise first hand in the field. In his opinion “[we] had a fantastic time last summer,” and in my opinion, it was one of the best summers of my life— one that has shaped me in many ways.

            My time aboard the Samba moreover inspired me to further my involvement in the Galápagos National Park by founding the Aerial Conservancy,  ( AerialConservancy.org ), a nonprofit corporation that funds and facilitates wildlife conservation through the use of UAV’s, more commonly own as drones.

            However, none of this would have been possible without Heather, who connected me to Juan originally, and believed in me enough to recommend me for the internship. In her words, “It was a pleasure;” nonetheless, her simple act of trust has shaped my life forever.

David Crowley (picture NOT taken in Galapagos, in case you were wondering)

Times are going to be a bit tougher for Galapagos residents again.   The cargo ship Bartolomé, which does the back and forth between the continent and the islands, bringing every day supplies, food and other goods from the continent, had an accident today as it was leaving the major coastal city of Guayaquil.  By the look of things, it will likely be out of service for a while, if not forever (see picture below).   Galapagos cargo ships seemed to work under an evil spell, as such accidents are frequent.  This is the first in 2-3 years, but at that time, three ships in a 2 year period were wrecked.  

This will likely have a measurable impact on the availability and price of supplies in the islands, as critical imports may be more likely flown in for a while.   

 The Bartolomé appears to be in a spot of trouble.  Picture from the FB post of Alfredo Davila Carvajal.

Shamelessly copy/pasted from The Economist.  I once met The Economist's "man in Quito" while working for UNESCO.  I have since been a paid subscriber to this well rounded magazine. 

What to expect from Ecuador’s elections

Under Rafael Correa, living standards rose. But he governed with a heavy hand and leaves a lot of problems for his successor

From the print edition | The Americas

Feb 18th 2017 | QUITO

WHEN Rafael Correa first ran for Ecuador’s presidency in 2006, supporters at his rallies brandished belts in homage to their candidate, whose surname means “belt” or “strap”. “Dale correa,” or “give them a whipping,” the crowds roared. It was a demand to punish what they regarded as the corrupt elites who had governed Ecuador since the return of democracy in 1979. Mr Correa promised he would. He won that election and then two more. His presidency brought a rare spell of political stability. Living standards rose and public services improved. But few would say that he kept his promise to clean up government. This year’s national elections, which begin on February 19th, are shrill with accusations of corruption. 

Mr Correa, who has a respectable approval rating of 42%, is not a candidate. He is counting on Lenin Moreno, a former vice-president, and his running mate, Jorge Glas, the current vice-president, to carry on his “citizens’ revolution”. Mr Moreno, who shares his alarming first name with 18,000 other Ecuadoreans, hopes to win in the first round by capturing the bulk of Mr Correa’s support and adding to it. To do that he must get more than half the votes or, failing that, at least 40% with a gap of ten percentage points over his nearest rival.

That may not happen. Although Mr Moreno is ahead in the polls, he has been hurt by revelations that he sought from Ecuador’s government a budget of $1.6m a year during his three-year stint as the UN’s special envoy for disability (he has used a wheelchair since he was mugged in 1998) plus $3.9m in travel expenses while he was vice-president. If Mr Moreno falls short, a president from right of centre could bring a decade of correísmo to an end.

Whatever the outcome, Ecuador’s 16m people face greater uncertainty. The halving since 2014 of the price of oil, the country’s biggest export, has pushed the economy into recession and widened a hole in the budget (see chart). Alianza PAIS, the “movement” Mr Correa created, may retain its legislative majority in the elections, but probably as a weakened force. Ecuador’s next president will not be able to afford Mr Correa’s largesse and may not exercise his unchecked power. Ecuadoreans will find themselves tightening belts rather than waving them.

By the standards of left-wing Latin American leaders, Mr Correa has not fared badly. Some $300bn flowed into government accounts during his presidency from oil revenues, higher taxes and fresh borrowing. He used some of that to build “21st-century socialism”, which in practice meant splashing out on roads, schools, clinics and social housing. Social spending doubled as a share of GDP between 2006 and 2012; the minimum wage went up sharply. Mr Correa did not strangle growth and spur inflation with price controls, as Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro did in Venezuela. Ecuador’s adoption of the dollar in 2000, after its currency collapsed, contained Mr Correa’s radicalism.

Between 2006 and 2011 Ecuador had the world’s most “inclusive” economic growth, according to ODI, a British think-tank; incomes of the poorest 40% of Ecuadoreans grew by eight times the national average. The poverty rate, which started falling in the early 2000s, came down further, from nearly 40% in 2006 to less than 23% in 2016.

But Mr Correa’s spree left the economy vulnerable. Government spending doubled to a peak of 44% of GDP in 2014. Public debt has trebled to more than 50% of GDP since the global financial crisis. Having defaulted on its debt, Ecuador pays close to double-digit rates to borrow, largely from Chinese lenders. Mr Correa is trying to replace lost oil revenue with foreign investment but the climate is forbidding. In the World Bank’s ranking of 190 countries by ease of doing business, Ecuador ranks 114th. The recession is beginning to hurt ordinary folk. Employment fell by 244,000 in 2016 and the poverty rate is edging higher.

Ecuadoreans paid a high price for material progress in the form of creeping authoritarianism and continued corruption. Campaigning in 2006 Mr Correa vowed to “depoliticise the courts”. In effect he seized control of them. A commission led by a former interior minister disciplines and often removes judges. Mr Correa made war on a critical press. He set up a regulator that harasses newspapers and radio stations by levying fines, often for such lapses as failing to cover a mayor’s speech.

His building programme produced backhanders and white elephants as well as useful infrastructure. New and rebuilt airports which failed to attract commercial traffic have closed. Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction firm that bribed officials across Latin America, paid $33.5m to Ecuadorean officials between 2007 and 2016, according to the United States Department of Justice. Mr Correa has said that his name, and that of Mr Glas, are likely to appear on the Justice Department’s list of officials bribed by Odebrecht, but insists that is part of an American plot to undermine him.

It is Mr Correa’s failures, not his successes, that are setting the tone for the elections. Voters are most worried about the recession and the rise in unemployment. Much of the heat in the campaign comes from anger at Mr Moreno’s lavish spending and accusations of corruption levelled at Mr Glas. One alleges that he took kickbacks in connection with a hydroelectric-dam project. He denies wrongdoing.

Mr Moreno is promising voters a softer-edged correísmo. He entices them with budget-busting promises to treble a cash benefit for the poor to $150 a month, raise pensions and build “housing for all”. If he fails to win in the first round, the anti-Correa vote, now split among seven candidates, may coalesce around the other survivor of that ballot. The leading contenders have promised to undo much of Mr Correa’s legacy. They agree on the need to restore judicial independence, strengthen human rights and curb the budget deficit.

The likeliest candidate to join Mr Moreno in the second round is Guillermo Lasso, a conservative banker from the coastal city of Guayaquil who was runner-up in the 2013 presidential election. Though his foes brand him an out-of-touch plutocrat, he sees himself as a challenger to old-style business oligarchs from his home town. He has promised to eliminate red tape and to cut taxes by $3bn, which may clash with his plans to shrink the deficit.

His rivals for a second-round spot include Cynthia Viteri, the nominee of the centre-right Social Christian Party, which represents Guayaquil’s elite. The anti-Correa left has united around Paco Moncayo, a former mayor of Quito.

Opposition parties failed to present a unified list in elections to the national assembly, increasing the chances that Alianza PAIS will retain control. That could make it harder for the next president to enact reforms, especially if it is not Mr Moreno. Mr Correa is leaving the scene, at least for now. His belt-brandishing style of politics may not.

Wanting to be sure that its electorate is in full possession of its reasoning powers during national elections, the government of Ecuador requests that all establishments normally allowed to sell alcoholic beverages in the country (bars, restaurants, supermarkets...) refrain from doing so over a full three day period.  The ban starts nearly 2 full days before the voting booths open and ends a full 16 hours after they close.  One must conclude that the government won't even tolerate voting with a hangover, nor will it tolerate excessive celebrations once the vote is in. 

The ban also applies to drinking alcohol in the privacy of your home (or hotel room) - though one wonders how this can be controlled.   If you must have your happy hour drink, the only option to do so legally is to embark on a cruise - where we've been informed that the ban is not applied (or respected?).

For this very interesting national election (President Correa is stepping down after a fairly long and vigorous 10 years in power), the ban will apply from Friday, 17 February, 12 noon, to Monday, 20 February, 12 noon.    You have been warned.

Yesterday, the governor of the Province of Galapagos, Eliecer Cruz (an old friend, former boss) tweeted "good luck" to the large number of aspirants taking the entrance exam to the Galapagos Naturalist Guide course. The 350 or so hopefuls (see picture below - a similar exam is being held in each of the three main towns of Galapagos) are pictured below.  All are Galapagos residents. To be a Galapagos Naturalist Guide, the course is mandatory - only those having successfully completed it are certified and can be hired by cruise ships and tourism companies.

In the early days (e.g. until 1998), just about anybody on the planet could consider becoming a Galapagos Naturalist Guide.  Many passionate and well educated young adults were hired - both Ecuadorian (an old Quito friend of mine passed the course - but never guided.  She is now a doctor in Quito;  another is the Darwin Station director - a mainland Ecuadorian).   As a result, a good many of the older guides are from the mainland or from overseas - I know several American and British naturalist guides, for example. But the youngest of that crop is about 47 these days.

As of 1998, with the passing of the first "Special Law for Galapagos", the islands were given a special status, in which jobs could only be offered to Galapagos residents, and only in the case where no resident could be found, could a job be offered to a mainland Ecuadorian. This spelled the end of foreign, and even mainland naturalist guides.

It has been several years since a Naturalist Guide course has been held. Various forces have delayed the holding of a new one - mainly, the 1,000 or so existing guides who don't like to see new, young competition joining their ranks. But other forces have been lobbying for the course - namely the aspiring young Galapagos residents hoping to join the rather elite ranks of "certified Galapagos Naturalist Guides". Being a guide in Galapagos (for the hard working, good ones) can be a ticket to a good job with a decent salary in a place where these can be scarce.

As for the ship owners - they can be ambivalent. While they are keen on new guides, they are not so keen on just a whole bunch of low quality new guides. They would like to see the guide's course opened up to mainland Ecuadorians - but politically, and under the Special Law for Galapagos, this is very difficult to do. The locals want to keep this opportunity to themselves, reducing the competition from the much larger pool of mainlanders.

Indeed, a quick assessment of the pool of potential guides in Galapagos shows that it is very shallow. The last census of the islands (published in November 2016) indicated a total population of 25,244 (in 2015). The population distribution (many children) the comparatively low level of post secondary education, and the overall absence of English language skills alone likely reduces this pool to a very small number of potentially good guides.

Though good for Galapagos residents, this formula presents a challenge to the tourism interests in the islands.  Too many mediocre candidates risk being admitted, weakening the overall quality of the Naturalist Guides pool.  

At CNH Tours, we emphasize the importance of having a top quality guide as part of your cruise experience.  When considering cruise options for our guests, one of our main concerns is the reputation of the guides that a particular ship owner hires.  You can be on the most luxurious ship with the greatest itinerary, but if your guide is dispassionate, your trip will be tainted. 

Though we are sure that many very good guides will emerge from this course, we remain concerned that the new crop of top guides won't be able to keep up with the natural attrition of excellent guides currently considering retirement.   We would very much like to see the guides course opened up to mainland Ecuadorians as well.