Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Conversation with Naturalist

During our lunch break we had an "informal chat"
with David, one of our naturalists. He gave us a lot of
information about the people of the Galapagos.

He and all the naturalists are originally from here.
Some still live here and some have moved to the mainland.
You cannot just move here. If you were born here you and
your family may return. People such as doctors are not local.
Celebrity Cruises has a program where doctors in specialties
come here on the flight with the cruise people come on so people
can be examined without having to go to mainland. I'm not sure
when they return.

The naturalists work for a tourist company who works for
Celebrity. They work 4 weeks, then have 2 weeks off. Those
who still live here get to see their family the days the ship
stops there, so David sees his family every week for a couple
of hours.

They have to get a license as a naturalist for the Galapagos
and another for the specific national park they work. They
have an extensive 3 month training and must take refresher
courses and renew license every two years.



No comments:

Post a Comment