| Galapagos Odyssey |
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Page 4 of 4 
The Islander crosses the equator
At another table, Potter and his son are discussing a beautiful little surf break they spied earlier. A cluster of sea lions was frolicking in the whitewater, launching themselves into the curling waves from underneath and surfing them from the inside. “It would have been the perfect surf break,” Colby says. “We lived near Huntington Beach for a while, and I picked it up a little bit.” Potter listens quietly to his son. The exec is a big man, six foot two and corn-fed, but the extra heft suits him. His buzz-cut hair and wire-rimmed glasses give him an avuncular air. Colby, too, has a teddy-bearishness to him. The two men share a quiet geniality, and between them one senses that thing that fathers and sons so often have: a laconic familiarity that comes from spending years in one another’s company without ever having a truly revealing conversation.  ACCESS > American Airlines (aa.com) flies direct from Miami to Quito, Ecuador. Most U.S.–to–Ecuador flights arrive in the evening, so plan to stay the night. > Swissôtel Quito is a 275-room modern luxury hotel with six restaurants an... AS OUR VOYAGE CONTINUES AROUND the archipelago, every day brings a new marvel of natural history. Trekking over a scorched plain of black lava, its jagged fragments of crust as fragile as dinner plates, we come upon an oasis of marsh grass surrounding a green lake where pink flamingos stand as motionless as lawn ornaments. Hiking to the highlands of Santa Cruz, we search through a meadow of tall elephant grass for wild giant tortoises, who lumber along like ambulatory boulders. One night, we lean over the railing and watch reef sharks and sea lions lazily circle one another, waiting for flying fish to come into view; when they do, the sea lions chase them down in a flurry of whitewater, leaving the sharks to chomp on the leftovers. As time goes by, the group seems less like independent travelers and more like a long-established club. The kids form into bands and disappear together; parents swap phone numbers and e-mail addresses and start talking about the next trips they’ll take. I find myself wondering if Exclusive Resorts could transform into a whole other kind of travel company, something more like a migratory country club. The last excursion of the trip takes us ashore on Española, in the far southeastern corner of the Galápagos. We navigate around a scattering of dozing sea lions and make our way to the edge of a tall cliff, where albatross ride currents of air above a maelstrom of crashing waves that sends plumes of spray a hundred feet high. Along the way, we pass a sandy nesting area where female iguanas butt heads and hiss as they battle for prime egg-laying spots. At last we turn back toward the ship, threading our way down a winding trail through a boulder-strewn thicket. Bringing up the rear, I notice a patch of color by the edge of a bush. It’s a lone female iguana, perched by the opening to her nesting burrow. As I crouch, it seems to regard me, inscrutably, motionless. Its ribs show through its scaly flanks. Here is natural selection in action. If another female comes along to contend for this spot, this iguana may use up its last reserves of energy and be too weak to return to the sea. I push myself up and leave the creature to continue her struggle. Hurrying down the trail, I catch up with my shipmates as they reach our landing spot, on the beach. The low-angling sun is turning everything to reddish gold. Already, the Zodiacs are on their way, kicking up rooster tails as they speed to meet us. Soon, we will be at sea. Tomorrow, once again, we will wake up somewhere else. Want to plan your own trip? click here to plan trips to The Galápagos click here to plan diving trips
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