Encountering the magnificent frigatebird

Jim Anderson's adventures in the Galpagos Islands pick up as his party visits a preserve in the highlands of Quito, Ecuador.

The preserve turned out to be a hotspot for South American hummingbirds, something I took advantage of with my camera. While the more energetic members of our group went on a hike into the cloud forests above the preserve to see giant earthworms and other high country birds and mammals, I hung out with the hummers.

The booted racket-tail was common at the feeders, along with the collared Inca, purple-throated woodstar, and one sparkler I didn't know that flashed yellow at me from it's forehead. What a show!

The next day, Tanya kept a tight rein on us, right up to when we rode out to the Quito International Airport and stepped into the airliner that took us to the Galapagos. Even on landing, Tanya's organizational skills were still part of our lives. She had all the next moves in place for us to meet with Martin, the naturalist who would be our guide and - through some miraculous power she possessed - arranged to have a beautiful Darwin cactus finch building a nest in a cactus alongside the walkway leading to the Galapagos check-in building.

Because of this orchestrated and fine-tuned method of dealing with us non-Spanish-speaking tourists I will, under the heading of "Unsolicited Advice," suggest you go to http://www.galapagostravel.com if you are planning a trip to the Galapagos. Ask for one of Rolf Wittmmer's yachts, preferably the Tip Top IV, and even be so bold as to ask that Martin Lojola be your guide.

Martin is a fully qualified naturalist with an astonishing grasp of the Galapagos. I have worked with interpreters from our National Park Service, USFS, BLM, State Parks, colleges and private companies, but have never enjoyed anyone as much as I did Martin. He's

the best!

And he has to be good! The Galapagos National Park Service has placed the bar high for those who want to work there, and live by the strict rules laid down by the Galapagos National Park Service vessels in the harbor, two of which were huge, compared to ours.

It costs each person $100 for a permit to visit the Galapagos, a fee levied by the Galapagos National Park Service, which controls the island's visitors with an iron hand - thank God! Over 100,000 people visit the islands per year, and without that control, this one-of-a-kind biome would be in shambles.

To conform to the GPNS schedules, we rolled out of our bunks every morning at 5:45 a.m. to be first on the beach, and to be prepared to leave the cove or harbor on time; if someone messed up that schedule, the powers-that-be let you know about it quickly.

Martin, and his fellow naturalist Earnesto Jaca, shepherded us at each stop - Martin out front, Earnesto taking up the rear, ensuring that no one stepped off the trail or got lost. This was especially important when we visited the areas where indigenous turtles, tortoises, iguanas and lizards were laying eggs.

I learned this on our first day. As we slowly walked along the trail on North Seymour Island - our first stop on the tour - a beautiful Galapagos snake suddenly appeared on the soft white sands alongside the trail.

Oh, how I wanted to get a close-up of the snake, but when I looked at Earnesto, asking permission to step off the trail, he smiled at me and waggled his finger in the "no, no" gesture. Then a few moments later he explained that the sandy area was a favorite place for the huge land iguanas to lay their eggs.

It was also on North Seymour that we were introduced to the signature bird of the Galapagos, the magnificent frigatebird.

They are everywhere! The males with their enormous, inflated bright-red throat pouches, were posturing before females on what seemed like every bush. As we traveled between islands, frigatebirds used the orographic lift supplied by the bulk of the vessel to soar and wheel only a few feet above our heads.