Power Outages in the Galapagos

Short power outages are not terribly uncommon here--we get them maybe every couple of weeks--and we had one this morning which got me to thinking about them and delayed my leaving the house for a while. The trouble with power outages isn't so much the lack of lights, it's the fact that they take the water supply with them, even though we've had plenty of rain recently. Our water is stored in a giant underground cistern and pumped to shower level by an electric pump, so whenever the power's gone, the showers are gone.

Probably unrelatedly, the post office was closed today, although I've mailed things on Saturdays before. Across the street, however, was a children's event. I see these every so often on the malecon, little storytelling circles that attract a lot of locals. This time, there were paintings and cartoons hanging up to dry, and a puppet show was taking place when I walked up. The theme of the event seemed to focus on conservation and some of the unique species of the Galapagos and mainland Ecuador, which is nice to see, especially since a lot of people agree that one of the main problems in the Galapagos right now is the lack of education about just how special the area where the residents live is. Many conservationists are hoping that by making children aware of the value of the nature around them, they will be more likely to engage in sustainable activities, instead of trying to get rich quick off of tourism or fishing, so I was glad to see the event.