84 » OpenRoad Driver
It ’ s Day Three in the Galápagos , where I ’ m spending a week visiting five islands in the archipelago on a small passenger ship , The Eric . With nineteen co-travelers the ship is small enough to venture close to the bays and coves of islands with names as colourful as the species they shelter : Floreana , San Cristóbal , Española and Santa Cruz .
By day we kayak and snorkel in aquiline water , taking short hikes into the islands ’ interiors to explore the birdlife , mammals , reptiles and amphibians that inhabit them . With no other ships nearby we have the beaches and coves to ourselves , giving our journey an Eden-like quality . We are Darwinesque travelers stepping back in time to an untouched paradise , a place where we ’ re never once perceived as a threat or danger by the iguanas , sea lions , turtles , stingrays and many species of birds that we encounter .
We ’ d like to believe the islands are truly untouched , but several have been scathed by human encounters over the years , tainted by human predation and the introduction of black rats , goats and feral cats that have endangered the endemic species . As we approach Floreana Island , we notice a small cat swiftly navigating the rocky cliffs . Benavides swears quietly under his breath and turns to our group with a solemn face . “ The goats we managed to get rid of here ,” he says . “ There are programs to eradicate the cats , too , but clearly we ’ ve not gotten all of them yet .”
The cats , released over the years by the 100-odd full-time residents of Floreana , are a problem because they threaten the wildlife , feeding on lava lizards , mockingbirds , finches and turtle eggs . Still , the island is flourishing . Disembarking at an olive-coloured beach , we ’ re welcomed by sea lions with gleaming bodies and faces poised towards the sun . A few steps