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World Travels......South America... ...Ecuador.& Galapagos Islands fe..Galapagos Mural |
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| Mural 12 in Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands | ||||||||
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PUERTO
AYORA .... LotOne
of my earliest adventures was a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
And, after years and years of travel, it still ranks up there as one
of my best trips. Of course, there was that photo in National
Geographic. My small group of explorers traveled to remote places
like you'd expect National Geographic photographers to visit.
In fact, there were three Geographic people we met in several locations.
However, I didn't know that in addition to all the animals, they also
took photos of us! Yes, in the centennial issue of National
Geographic, there we are among a group of sea lions on the beach.
Yep, that's me on page 146 with the blue and white stripped shorts.
It's one of my best claims to fame. So, it's easy to see why
the Galapagos Islands hold a special place in my memories. And,
I wanted to return.
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I
researched the Charles Darwin Foundation and saw that there was a
volunteer program. I just wasn't sure if I was the kind of volunteer
they wanted. But, I learned a long time ago that it never hurts
to ask. It didn't take long to get the answer either.
I was a fit! And, I was on my way back to the islands. The
Charles Darwin Foundation has an educational department. Plans
were for me to work with them. They would help me paint murals
on three different islands and I would create illustrations for educational
materials they developed. Everyone was happy.
For the
first murals, on the island of Santa Cruz, they wanted murals that
depicted living in harmony with nature and conserving water.
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Although
the Galapagos Islands are on the equator, it isn't always hot.
The waters are cooled by the Humbolt current that flows up from Antarctic.
They have hot weather three months of the year. And, just my
luck, I arrived smack in the middle of blistering heat. The
first morning of painting the mural at Escula Galo Plaza Lasso (a
local school) was torture. I'd hoped for a little bit of a break
from the broiling sun before 11:00 A.M., but that didn't happen.
At 8:00 AM I was overheating and over-stressing. One woman from
the Darwin Foundation suggested we try later in the day at 4:00 PM.
Hopefully, the worst of the heat would be past then. She
was right too. Gloriously right!
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We worked for two hours in blissful shade. It was so much easier. However, to be perfectly honest, it wasn't one hundred percent blissful shade. Any place with shade in the Galapagos Islands seemed to attract mosquitoes. This mural was no exception and I have always been a mosquito magnet. I tried to just endure it, thinking I’d just bring my spray along the next day. After thirty minutes, I couldn't stand it any more! I located a pharmacy -- and in my very pathetic Spanish -- I let the woman behind the counter know that I needed some mosquito repellent. Then, finally, during the last hour and a half of painting I had my bliss. Once you iron out the kinks on day one, the rest of the mural is easy. We only painted in the afternoon and always had mosquito repellent. Piece of cake! -- or, in this case, a mural or two!MARTIN |
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Copyright
2012 by Phillip Martin All rights reserved.
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MARTINMARTIN
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