Loved this! Did a film on fur seals with John Francis on Selkirk years ago. Never knew the Juan Fernandez Islands had such diversity. So happy to hear it's being preserved.
Wow! Always enlightening. I knew nothing about the existence of this island and its endemic biodiversity. And - it’s always welcome to feel some hope. Thank you!
Postscript: I started this post talking about Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but never got to say what I think of that book. It thrilled me when I read it as a child, and it may have helped lead me to spend my life traveling and exploring the world. I still have that paperback from many decades ago, with sand in the binding from when I read it at the Jersey Shore. But when I picked it up to re-read recently, the first thing I noticed was that the type had somehow gotten incredibly small. And second, that Defoe was awfully interested in reconciling his castaway with God, and then having him exercise white Christian social dominance over the first human he encountered after 23 years in isolation. Then, because the newcomer was dark-skinned, he made him his slave. I recommend instead another life-changing book I read as an adolescent: The Fatal Impact, by Alan Moorehead, about the tragic legacy of the European arrival in the Pacific. I still have that paperback, too.
Loved this! Did a film on fur seals with John Francis on Selkirk years ago. Never knew the Juan Fernandez Islands had such diversity. So happy to hear it's being preserved.
Very inspiring!
Now you’ve gone and done it. How long do you think it will be before construction begins on The Trump Resort at Mas a Tierra!
Wow! Always enlightening. I knew nothing about the existence of this island and its endemic biodiversity. And - it’s always welcome to feel some hope. Thank you!
God, I hope not. Just a little more tourism would be nice, with the islanders, and not some hideous corporation, maintaining ownership of the hotel.
Me neither, before my conversation with Solange G. on Thursday.
Very good news. Island Conservation et al have done amazing work.
Agreed.
Postscript: I started this post talking about Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but never got to say what I think of that book. It thrilled me when I read it as a child, and it may have helped lead me to spend my life traveling and exploring the world. I still have that paperback from many decades ago, with sand in the binding from when I read it at the Jersey Shore. But when I picked it up to re-read recently, the first thing I noticed was that the type had somehow gotten incredibly small. And second, that Defoe was awfully interested in reconciling his castaway with God, and then having him exercise white Christian social dominance over the first human he encountered after 23 years in isolation. Then, because the newcomer was dark-skinned, he made him his slave. I recommend instead another life-changing book I read as an adolescent: The Fatal Impact, by Alan Moorehead, about the tragic legacy of the European arrival in the Pacific. I still have that paperback, too.