Have you ever gone from an Ewww to a Wow in one breath? Did your queasy shudder give way quickly to hushed awe? Been simply blown away by the Locals and their Attitude? You must’ve been at Galapagos!!

Several millenniums back, Earth belched up a few volcanoes on the other side of Ecuador (of what’s now called Ecuador!), and continued on her loop. But Time and the tides washed ashore some lost fledglings, some errants… Turtles, lizards, crabs, birds — small expendables from the bounty of life forms. And once here, there was no going back! Literally, for currents, distances and such, left them castaways for good — or bad…! For they’d washed up on the hot, barren, stark, volcanic islands of Galapagos!! Should have been End of Story…!

But that’s when the original “Never say die!” attitude was born!

First the little brats hurrahed, no bullies here! None of the bigger natural predators could make it across! But a jaunty scout around the school yard, turned up bad news — basically there was nothing to eat! Nada! Zilch! As the obstinate young are sometimes wont to do, they set their puny jaws, determined to pass the survival tests thrown endlessly at them!

Took them millions of years, but class after grim class in Tenaciousness, paid off. Of course not everyone cleared the high endurance bar… it was Survival of the Fittest! Only here, fitness wasn’t hours pumping iron at the gym, nor some high IQ/ SAT scores! The fittest were the ones who most adapted to the challenge… who had the most attitude to even change themselves if need be, when caught between the (volcanic) rock and a hard place!

Take these marine iguanas! They might look ugh, but know their story, and it takes your breath away — yeah, even when you’re not standing downwind! No food? Not only a diet change, they made a lifestyle change that would’ve left their primary physician speechless! They clambered into the sea, foraging for food — algae! And slowly, but surely, blunt

noses became hip, these helped easily graze on the algae. Longer, sharper claws helped hold onto the slippery rocks, flattened tails helped swim! Oh and who knew sea water would mean a lot of salt…? They developed glands to filter and sneeze out

the excess — bless you! So hey, not your eye candy maybe, but nature’s ultimate badass, adapted and survived! Not just marine iguanas, but tortoises, finches, cormorants, … all tell heroic tales of survival by adapting.

But surely species have been adapting, all across Earth?

Yes, indeed! But what the Galapagos Islands uniquely provides is a sort of natural “laboratory” environment, to be able to watch these responses to stimuli “in separated glass cases”… only the experiment spans millions of years, and the “lab mice” are several species showcasing how they adapted differently to their new homes, the islands, isolated not only from the world, but also glass-cased from each other!

Most dramatically highlighted by the tortoises on Galapagos! On islands with vegetation near ground, our dear slowcoach plodders, the Giant Tortoises, have domed shells and shorter necks. But on the arid islands, where they had to really stick their necks out to survive, they adapted to saddleback shaped shells and disproportionately

longer necks, allowing them to stretch higher, to eat the tall cacti. The Darwin finches similarly adapted their beaks to varied shapes adjusting to the food availability. The islands are rife with examples of species reinventing themselves, to beat the odds against extinction! Of life-changing decisions made to cling onto Life!

But of course there’s also much in Galapagos that’s just

colorful, light, playful… blue footed boobies, red pouched frigates, adorable sea lions, beautiful land iguanas (quite the opposite of their ugly-duckling marine pals!), pelicans, cormorants, marine turtles… the list is endless! And the most amazing part — which is only in the Galapagos — none of these animals, not even the birds, ever had predators here… they’ve never known fear! They don’t know to fly away, to scamper or scatter when other species, or even humans get close (silly, didn’t they teach

you to fear humans?!)… they just sit there, sunning themselves, swimming, playing, yawning, dozing…whatever the current mood is!! The most refreshing indifference I ever saw!

Oh! And did I forget the mating?!! Omg, the mating! Like their lives depended on mating! Cornered to near extinction, it’s all about food and procreation, I guess… but so entertaining for us smug outsiders watching in. Male frigates ballooning attractive red pouches to attract the females… please, oh please, pick me! Blue footed boobies doing the mating rituals — the male strutting, lifting his feet, pointing out all his blue endowments, feet, beak, neck to his lady, then

placing a twig or a pebble near her, by way of asking “you like?” And everywhere it’s the same, the female unimpressed, often turning away bored at the last minute — somethings didn’t change even in millions of years!

It’s difficult to describe how totally outwordly an experience a visit to Galapagos is! Having front row seats to all the dramatic, varied, colorful, exotic life, very up

close and personal, make Galapagos the most unforgettable place on earth. It’s like seeing it all in slow motion, zooming in on some significant bubbles, to see the intricate details…! Yet it’s all non intrusive, and in good conservation conscience. Galapagos leaves me with an inspired optimism that Life will never give up! Life will adapt! Life will survive! To understand Life, its  tenuous perch yet its tenacious hold, to feel the whole gamut of emotions from repulsed to awed to moved, from laugh-out-loud to “oh, so cute” moments, there’s no place that compares to Galapagos! No  place even comes close!

Gallery: