I flinch. Our naturalist guide, Nikolas, is talking to me. Excited by being mere inches from the stuffed toy–like sea lions on Española Island, one of many in the Galápagos archipelago in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador, and eager for a close-up portrait, I have committed a cardinal sin by straying from the marked path.

A giant tortoise with the author's husband, Norm, in the Galapagos Islands. Photo courtesy of Heather Rath

“See these rock boundaries?” repeats Nikolas. “They are there so you know where you can walk and where you can’t. If you wander all over you can do so much damage. Without knowing it, you can step on iguana egg nests buried in the sand or a bird’s ground nest. So just remember – please – stay on the path.”

Nikolas is not being mean; he is expressing his love of wildlife with enthusiasm and passion for the flora and fauna he protects on these remarkable islands. His stern voice is an appreciated warning for our small group of 10 like-minded visitors who have come to marvel at the uniqueness of life on the Galápagos.

A sea lion mother nurses her pup on the Galapagos Islands. Note the black-and-white trail markers to be respected by all visitors. Photo courtesy of Heather Rath

Unfortunately, I stumble again into the pit of ignorance although this time I am not alone.

“Puh-leeze!” pleads Nikolas to everyone. “No flashes on the camera! This is not good for the animals. And please do not touch them. They have no fear of humans since we do not harm them.” A sea lion pup, nursing from his mom, looks up with big warm brown eyes and then nonchalantly turns back to his milk supply. We are enchanted. No wonder these are called The Enchanted Islands.

Slowly but surely I am learning the proper rules of etiquette in the Galápagos National Park and Marine Reserve as we carefully wind our way along narrow trails, some of them treacherous and slippery from water and shards of hard lava.

A blue-footed booby waits patiently for fisherman's throwaways on the Galapagos Islands. Photo courtesy of Heather Rath

We move on and quietly observe a mama, papa and baby blue-footed booby family, the chick a mass of ruffled soft feathers. The bird’s bright blue feet, coloured as if a child has used a paint-by-number set, are used in a mating ritual in which the adults lift up their feet and dance around, sometimes pointing their wings towards the sky. “You see,” whispers Nikolas, “you might have stepped on their nests if you wandered off the trail.” We get the message as we watch the fascinating family at our feet.

On we tread – carefully. We come across a pair of mating marine iguanas, the red and green male (“We call them Christmas iguanas,” says Nikolas) atop the squirming red and black female. Again, we are only a few feet away.

A "Christmas" (red and green) land iguana on the Galapagos Islands. Photo courtesy of Heather Rath

Suddenly, to Nikolas’s delight, he spies a waved albatross. “This is something,” he exclaims. “I thought they had all left the island but this one is young and still a bit heavy.” The waved albatross must actually take off like an airplane over the island cliffs relying entirely on the southeast trade winds to carry him to feeding areas. We watch the bird run back and forth repeatedly in a practice session. Soon he will shed enough weight as he matures and be able to lift off.

Sally Lightfoot crabs (named by English seafarers) scamper over a black volcanic landscape like bright orange plastic toys, their multi-coloured markings a work of art.

Sally Lightfoot crabs dot the volcanic rocks of the Galapagos Islands. Photo courtesy of Heath Rath

On another island, we come face to face with giant tortoises and catch a glimpse of Lonesome George, about 90 years old, the last survivor of the dynasty of land tortoises from his island. Found in December 1971, he was moved to the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island in March 1972. Repeated attempts by scientists to mate him with a subspecies have been unsuccessful because there cannot be an exact DNA match.

There’s so much to share about these enchanted islands! Perhaps this appetiser will entice you to visit and experience the abundant wild and marine life there. It is a humbling and powerful education into Mother Nature’s extraordinary survival processes.

The original name of the Galapagos Islands was Las Islas Encantadas, Spanish for the Enchanted Islands. 'Galapagos' means 'saddle' in Spanish, inspired by the shape of the shell of the Saddleback Tortoise. Photo courtesy of Heather Rath

Note: Following the devastating Japanese tsunami of March 11, 2011, reports say island authorities are still assessing the damage caused by the related waves. Unfortunately their arrival coincided with a high tide and resulted in waves nearly six feet high. There was enough warning to evacuate island residents, including Lonesome George and other giant tortoises, to higher ground. However, some nesting sites of sea turtles and marine iguanas have been affected on one of the islands.

Rules of the National Park:

PLEASE!

• Stay on the trails.

• Do not disturb any wildlife or remove any native plant or rock material.

• Make sure you do not accidentally transport any live material to the islands, or from island to island. Insular ecosystems are fragile biological units.

• Be cautious when approaching wildlife and always follow your naturalists’ advice.

• Animals are not to be fed by humans. Particular attention should be given to water bottles.

• It is prohibited to bring food to visitor sites.

• Do not startle or chase any animal from its resting or nesting area.

• Smoking is not allowed on the islands or in any boat during your visits. The use of cellular phones is prohibited on visitor sites.

• Do not buy any souvenirs made from native Galápagos species (exception: wood).

Although a parallel ‘turtle emergency rescue’ program of buying turtles captured by locals as a step in saving them from the cooking pot unfortunately had to be discontinued as it created a new industry – the capture of released turtles in order to sell them back – the resort nevertheless became the island’s de facto animal refuge, even providing veterinary assistance when need.

A White Grass Ocean Resort turtle emergency rescue program of buying turtles captured by locals had to be discontinued when released turtles were captured and sold back to the resort

As part of their efforts, the Nicholls’ also banned coconut crab from their menu (see more information), a practical step in helping to building the first and only coconut crab habitat in Vanuatu.

“Instead of eating them, our guests could handle and photograph living crabs. The kids had a ball seeing, touching and hand-feeding these awesome creatures, which are coloured in beautiful greens and blues, rather than seeing them cooked red,” said John. “In order to immediately sensitise people to the unique, fun eco-experience in store for resort guests, I sometimes welcomed them with a giant coconut crab… a live one, that is!”

Although their efforts initially made little impact, and maintaining the habitat was no easy task – these largest land-living crustacean can cut themselves out of any corner with their powerful claws and easily climb any surface, like the coconut trees from which they take their name – John and Silvana persisted.

“When travelling to the capital, Port Vila, we were appalled to see coconut crabs sold in restaurants,” confirmed John. “The irony of it is that they are actually quite bland in flavour, hence inevitably covered with strong sauces to make them interesting to eat. There was quite a trade in coconut crabs and we knew this was not sustainable, as numbers were dwindling fast. When we contacted a few experts on the subject, our fears were confirmed: there was a real problem.”

The coconut crab weighs over five kilograms when fully grown and measures metre wide from claw to claw

Predictions were that if coconut crab consumption could not be curbed, a number of islands in Vanuatu would feast them into extinction. The problem was not specific to the resort’s island of Tanna; it was true of many other islands as well.

“We then set out to make the tourism industry aware of the coconut crab plight,” continued John. “At the beginning, most hospitality colleagues did not know much about us and discarded our message as coming from recently arrived tree-hugging greenies. Only a few backed our little movement. But in mid 2002 the country’s iconic resorts banned coconut crab from their menus and things changed rapidly for the better. The message was being taken seriously.”

The movement relied not at all on a committee, printed brochures or criticism of anyone persisting in selling crabs. It simply consisted of information (see more information) shared via regular emails, at association meetings and on the resort website. With the hospitality industry in Vanuatu composed principally of independent individuals, many who have left their countries of birth “to get away from the top-down approach of their governments and local associations,” John and Silvana believed that their movement would function better with a grassroots approach.

With everyone allowed to come to their own conclusions based on the information provided, the strategy appears to have worked. In Vanuatu, coconut crabs are rarely found on menus.

“New or ignorant restaurateurs and some greedy ones persist,” added John. “It’s tough fighting ignorance. The owner of the resort where we built the habitat closed it down shortly after our departure. We just have to keep bringing the facts to the public, then those restaurants will be reminded of the coconut crab plight from their patrons and will have to change their ways. The next stage is then to encourage indigenous inhabitants to see the coconut crab as a tourist attraction and create venues for them to be protected, prosper and generate an income from the accessibility to this fascinating creature by the public.”

More Information

• Read a coconut-crab-conservation-vanuatu written by the Nicholls when working at the White Grass Ocean Resort.
• Read more about the coconut crab on Vanuatu Hotels.
• Read about the Vanuatu Post’s support of coconut crab conservation efforts.