As some readers may already know, my husband is from Ecuador. I met him when we were both students at the University of Texas at Austin.
Most of my husband’s extended family still lives in Ecuador. On our second trip to visit them, in 2003, my husband’s grandmother asked if we’d like to go to the Galápagos for a few days. We said, “Yes, thank you!” So my husband, son, my brother, two of my husband’s cousins, his aunt and uncle, and I all flew from Guayaquil to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal Island. From the memory of this trip, the story “Galápagos People Watching” was born.
The boat tour featured in the story is drawn from a tour we took during that trip. We visited Leon Dormido and Isla Lobos to see blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, sharks, and sea lions, just as the characters do in the story.
Those familiar with the history of the Galápagos will note the use of the surname Cobos for one of the characters. Manuel Cobos was the first owner of San Cristóbal Island and started a plantation there. The ruins of his house, left abandoned after a revolt by the prisoners he used as forced labor, can be seen on the island.
Characters’ names in the story are inspired by the Ecuadorian propensity to name people after famous historical figures. Top 100 Ecuadorian male first names include Washington, Jefferson, Lenin, Edison, Franklin, César, and Ulises. One can even find people named Stalin and Hitler.
The hardest thing about writing the story was not putting in too many details. Did I need to explain the different fees paid by foreign tourists vs Ecuadorian citizens when arriving in the Galápagos? No. Did I need to describe every activity a tourist can do on San Cristóbal? No. Did I need to mention the newer system that tracks how often Ecuadorians visit? No. My first draft of the story contained far too many details that had to be cut.
But once I cut all the extraneous information, a story of family, finding one’s path in life, and crime emerged. Editor Michael Brack