Banos, Ecuador Monday, January 19, 2015 Maybe the Galapagos would be better off if we all just left it alone. I can't get around the irony of hundreds of thousands of people paying a bunch of money to come to a place that is special because it is "untouched", and then touching it …
Darwin and the Tortoise
Buccaneer's Bay, Galápagos, Ecuador Friday, January 16, 2015 Here we are in the Galapagos. I'd envisioned the Galapagos as a kind of modern day Eden, where giant tortoises and sea lions snuggled on white sand beaches, framed by waving grasses and gently chirping finches. I imagined Darwin twirling among them all-- a bearded …
Keeping Up Appearances
Fernandina, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Tuesday, January 13, 2015 We're on a National Geographic/Sven Linblad boat called the "Islander" cruising through the Galapagos Islands.  I would like to see an albatross, though we probably won’t get far enough south. I'm reading a book called "The Lifeboat" in which a Titanic-like boat sinks, leaving …
The Science of Imaginary Lines
Mindo, Ecuador Thursday, January 8, 2015 Our first day in Ecuador, we visited THE CENTER OF THE EARTH! Well, that's what I thought it was, but I was corrected. Pro-tip: When you are in a carload of engineers, even if two of the three of them …
ICEBOX PLUMS: Moments, sweet and cold 