And what is that difference? Human population of course and the whole infrastructure accompanies it. When I came here in 1985 it was a tiny little town with maybe 3,000 people. Now it is estimated that 9,000 people call this home. Luckily the Galapagos Law of March 1998 stopped immigration. The province of Galapagos is now considered as a little country of its own, obvious when one has to fill in the immigration paper on the plane before arriving here.
I knew this place with nothing but dirt roads, very dusty when the climate was dry, very muddy when it rained a lot. Now almost everything is paved. I knew this place when it had only one motorcycle, one car, two buses and a couple of bikes. Now more than 600 cars drive on the island and as many motorcycles and bikes. The streets even became one way to avoid accidents!
I knew this place when it sold only one style of t-shirt and no other tourist items; now hundreds of different t-shirts are there to choose from, including the ones with the unique logos from the Charles Darwin Research Station and the National Park. I knew this place when it had only a couple places to have a drink or eat; now tens of choices can be made. I knew this place when it had only few places to stay, now a wide choice can me made among little pensions, cheap hotels and more luxurious ones. I knew this place when the cargo ships, only two of them, would come in on a very irregular basis, often leaving the town for weeks without eggs, tomatoes, detergent or even beer, very bad for a Belgian girl like me! Now three ships come in on a regular basis and today the blue one in the picture, called the San Cristobal, sends cargo to the Polaris all day long, as it does every three weeks. In the picture you can also see several of the charter yachts. In 1985 I knew them all; now there are more than 100 vessels! Do I sound nostalgic? Maybe, but Galapagos has stayed as beautiful and magical as it is in its pure core, and with the efforts of conservation always will be.
