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earlier in his childhood, juan carlos grew up in the vibrant cloud forests of mainland ecuador. the region is considered one of the single richest biological hotspots on the planet. juan carlos could recall walking through the forest spotting a seemingly endless number of colorful birds, monkeys, and armadillos. when he moved to the gal\u00e1pagos islands, all he could see in the surrounding highlands of santa cruz island were just some dark colored finches. little did juan carlos know at the time that these very same finches helped charles darwin produce his theory of evolution, which changed the way in how we all understand the natural world. <\/p>\n even darwin shared similar thoughts when he first landed on the galapagos 154 years before juan carlos: \u201cnothing could be less inviting than the first appearance. a broken field of black basaltic lava, thrown into the most rugged waves, and crossed by great fissures, is everywhere covered by stunted, sun-burnt brushwood, which shows little signs of life.\u201d <\/p>\n juan carlos recalled the moment when he changed his mind about life on the enchanted islands after seeing a giant tortoise for the first time. \u201ci couldn\u2019t believe these big things could walk! when we were kids, there were no tvs and no electricity, so we would just get close to the giant tortoises and watch them for hours!\u201d<\/p>\n as a kid growing up on the gal\u00e1pagos islands, juan carlos didn\u2019t have the same access to what the tourists would see. that all changed when he won a voyage on a ship in high school to visit several other islands. <\/p>\n \u201ceverything was different to me, beginning with the rocks,\u201d he says. before his famed voyage on the h.m.s. beagle, darwin was a disinterested medical student who later found his pathway into naturalism through geology. darwin, too, made careful observations about the geological differences within the gal\u00e1pagos islands.<\/p>\n \u201cwhen i arrived at north seymour island for the first time, i started to compare how it was different from santa cruz,\u201d juan carlos says. there, he could see vast colonies of frigate birds with their characteristic red pouches, blue-footed boobies engaged in courtship rituals, and land iguanas scattered across the decorative landscape. <\/p>\n \u201ci was like, ‘oh my god! everything is so different from santa cruz!’\u201d<\/p>\n as juan carlos continued his journey to the islands of espanola and floreana, he started to learn more about the human history of the gal\u00e1pagos. well before juan carlos\u2019s family, and even before darwin himself arrived, many pirates, whalers, and naturalists paid the archipelago a visit. \u201cthey paved the road for people like my family to eventually come and do farming,\u201d says juan carlos, who also now owns a farm on santa cruz island, like his father before him. <\/p>\n after graduating high school, juan carlos was set on becoming a mechanical engineer on a boat, before stumbling on an opportunity to become a naturalist guide. \u201conce i became a naturalist, i realized this is what i wanted to do (with my life),” he says. <\/p>\n juan carlos has now been a naturalist guide with lindblad expeditions for 16 years. as the expedition leader aboard the national geographic endeavour ii, he enjoys working for a company like lindblad that is deeply and actively involved in the conservation of the islands. \u201cit\u2019s not like we just operate here, bring visitors, take photographs and then they go away. it is about bringing visitors who would like to do something to preserve these natural places,” he says. “they want to be a part of long-lasting change, and that\u2019s what i like about this company. that is why i am here.\u201d <\/p>\n to juan carlos, the job of a naturalist has changed a lot since the days of darwin. \u201cback in those years of exploration, during the time of darwin, a naturalist would catch and shoot animals, do taxidermy, and sell their specimens to museums and universities as a type of business,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/dsc07766.jpeg\")
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