Oh Eduardo, what’s not to love about Eduardo, our Galapagos guide? Eduardo is smart, knowledgeable, funny, enthusiastic and in love with wildlife. More, he never (to our knowledge) made stuff up! He speaks English fluently but with a slow, almost tilting and charming Italian accent. Always “on” he was there to answer any question at any time. Ever patient, he led us throughout the islands and on every snorkel trip without ever losing his cool or appearing to be bored. While we’d be in our boots or heavy sneakers—only sometimes Teva’s—Eduardo was the cool guy walking on and over the lava in his Crocs, reminding us to stay a safe distance from the animals. Often times while the rest of us were lost in taking photos of whatever animals happened to be standing in front of us, Eduardo would read to Bill about the particular animals or island we were on, ensuring that Bill had an equally rewarding experience.
Sometimes as we walked single file on the trail with Eduardo leading the way, he’d share some information about something to those in front who would then pass it back to the next person who would pass it to the next until finally all 15 of us had the info. It was a little like the telephone game where the information becomes a little less true and a little more fantastical with each retelling until the last person hears that velociraptors are ahead just around the corner. Our 6 PM briefings with Eduardo (which never happened at 6) were lively and entertaining. Eduardo was always happy to correct any misunderstandings.
Eduardo, born on the islands but raised in Quito, is the grandson of Rolf Wittmer, the first European born on the islands. Wittmer was born to German parents in a cave on Floreana Island in January 1933. Yes a cave! The story of how he came to be born in a cave is a remarkable one to be told at some later point. What matters here is that Rolf Wittmer was one of the first to bring tourists on a large scale to the islands.
Eduardo though, went to college, became a dive master and only recently a guide. Every guide we met had done a National Park six month intensive course to be licensed. While Eduardo was the only guide, the rest of the boat crew had gone through similarly rigorous training. Many of them were formerly fishermen—a hard, hard life in Ecuador as it can be in any country. Eco-tourism is a growing business and Ecuador takes it seriously.
Sleeping on the boat and getting up each morning at 5 am for our first outing gave many of us vivid dreams, sometimes even anxiety dreams. Eduardo would always be the last one at the breakfast table in the morning looking like he had just jumped out of bed (which was true) with a serious case of adorable, bed-head. One morning he looked particularly disheveled. He held his head in his hands and moaned about having had nightmares about all of his ex-girlfriends showing up on the boat at one time. We didn’t ask how many ex-girlfriends, but no doubt at 30, Eduardo has had many!
