The Sleepy Galapagos

By Dennis L. Siluk
May 14, 2004

The Sleepy Galapagos: I recently went to the Galapagos, not far from my 2nd home base in Lima, Peru, yet 1/3 away around the world from my first home in St. Paul, Minnesota. My son Cody, had inspired me, harped on me, convinced me to go, saying: "...go, go dad to see the great Galapagos." He likes animals, as you might conclude with all them "goes" I provided above for you to read. Me, I don't love them, nor hate them, for I find it more pleasing for me to be at an ancient archeological site vs. nature; that is to say, I'd rather go to Chan Chan than to the Boundary Waters, or some other archeological site than hunting; the zoo can wait. Anyways, when I arrived on the first island in the Galapagos, on my recent vacation [4/24/04]: no cars, no smog, no busy people or traffic, just animals sleepily, lazily being unoccupied, un-sweating, laying around: that's the Galapagos in a nutshell; now for the bowel of soup.

If you've ever visited the Galapagos Islands, there is much to say on the subject: such as, they are peaceful, they are mystic, if not down right haunting; they are also an outside zoo, filled with strange sea lions roasting in the sun, looking at you eye to eye, a foot from your scalp. And we must not forget the Blue-footed Booby' yes indeed, the flying creature had [has] blue feet; the giant 500-pound tortoise, of which was some 150-years old. Where else on God's earth can you find Iguanas that swim? Every single one of these creatures I've mentioned seem to be in a daze, a trance: as if they were made of stone, tranquilized, unmoving [except for a few occasions when they wanted to move to get out of the sun].

Yes, oh yes, there is magic entwined with spells within the fabric of these islands, where everyone seems to be in a half sleep mode, in first gear if you will. And I thought about this a lot when I was there. And the more I thought about it, the more I missed the smog, the horns of the cars, the bickering of the neighbors, yes, O yes, I'm a city boy. As perfect as this Garden of Eden was or is: it was too much for me. I think heaven has more activity than the Galapagos, no disrespect intended.

Now you may be asking: "Would he [He being: me] go there again" The answer would be "no" but, I'm glad I went and experienced it: and to add ice cream to the top of that, I'm sure I'll be writing about it in my future books.

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