Daily Archives: December 7, 2021

Instead of his traditional Yuletide techno tale, Vitali recounts a reallife story of a forgotten Utopian community.

Even Paris ends somewhere, or so they say in France...

Year 2021, which is now on its last Covid-affected legs, felt endless due to the lockdowns.

But here we are, nearing Christmas, and here I am triple, or, if to count the annual flu injection, quadruple jabbed, and travelling again!

Yes, I spent the second half of 2021 searching for a ... Utopia. Not any kind of Utopia, but conveniently for the time when foreign travel was all but banned a domestic, read: British, one, for that is what my next book is going to be about the Utopian, i.e. (in my own definition) both idealistic and ideal, settlements of Britain.

In a specially acquired second-hand campervan, Ive managed to trace down and/or to visit about 50 of the above, with the most revealing discovery made last November.

I want to share this last one with you today.

So, my traditional yuletide techno-tale this time around will be neither a thriller (like last year) nor a fairy tale (like in 2019), nor even a new Icelandic saga, like several years ago, but an entirely true story of a fascinating technology-obsessed Utopian community, which existed for just a couple of years but had managed to leave an interesting legacy, as well as to teach a good lesson to the whole of humankind a lesson that, sadly, has not been properly learned until now.

I am talking about the Manea Fen Colony, which existed in Cambridgeshire between 1838 and 1841.

As it often happens, I first came across it accidentally while gathering material on Octavia Hill, a Victorian reformer and founder of the National Trust. Her former house (now a museum) in Wisbech contained, among other relics, a scale model of the Manea Fen Community, about which I hadnt heard a thing until then.

My curiosity was sparked. From the substantive and hard-to-obtain volume Utopia Britannica compiled by Chris Coates, I grasped the following:

Manea Fen (1838-41) Founder/Leader William Hobson. Unofficial Owenite community on 200-acre fenland estate. Built cottages, school, pavilion and their own windmill [they actually built many more than that, as I discovered later VV]. Was the most radical and notorious of the Owenite communities in the UK [sic]. Issued its own newspaper, The Working Bee, and had a uniform of Linkoln Green suits, which gave the men the appearance of being part of Robin Hoods merry men. Failed to find markets for its goods and collapsed...

That was all.

Not hoping to find many traces of the long-gone Owenite (i.e., following the Utopian socialist philosophy of the 19th-century Welsh social reformer Robert Owen) community, I duly drove through the unremarkable Manea Village of today, where the only reminder of the Colony was a solitary, as if accidentally dropped off the cart and left behind in haste, toponym Colony Farm a chunk of ordinary farmland with grazing cattle on it.

I was able to find out more at the Cambridgeshire Collection a section of the Cambridge City Library sitting right on top a busy shopping centre. There I sat for several days, leafing through the faded issues of The Working Bee newspaper, and trying to teleport myself 183 years back in time, to the muffled din of the jolly pre-Christmas 2021 shopping mall reaching me from below.

Robert Owen (1771-1858) sincerely believed that a brave new world could be built with the help of two main components: end of poverty due to the advances of technology, plus rational thought. From the early 1820s, he encouraged the creation of new small communities all over Britain, the number of which was soon well over a hundred.

One of Owens most devoted followers was Fenland farmer William Hodson, who publicly vowed to build an exemplary Owenite community a union of working classes on 200 acres of his own land in the Cambridgeshire Fens. In that community, he promised, there would be no social distinctions, no classes, and no private property. Everything will be shared equally among the colonists. There were also rather vague promises of freer sexual unions and joint childcare a new moral order of sorts.

Hodson, just like Owen himself, was a convinced technocrat and a firm believer in the transforming power of new technologies. In his declaration 'I will Endeavour', published in The Working Bee, he wrote:

The food will be cooked by a scientific apparatus thus saving an immense labour to the females... Machinery, which has hitherto been for the benefit of the rich, will be adopted in the colony for lessening labour. A steam engine will be erected for thrashing and grinding corn, as well as steaming food for cattle and many other purposes.

Invited by Hodson, the first colonists started trickling in in 1838, and the initial progress was encouraging. Working days at Manea were much shorter than anywhere else, yet the villagers from outside the community complained that the colonists did not observe Sabbath (i.e., carried on working on Sundays) and were therefore often branded infidels.

The drainage work at Manea, which many colonists were supposed to do, was made particularly difficult by the presence of a buried pit band, or rodham in the Fens dialect (nothing to do with Hilary Clinton), formed from the Old Bedford River silt deposits, right underneath the village.

In line with Hodsons promises, money was abolished in Manea Fen, but only for a short while. A public library, a school and a kindergarten were opened a unique scenario for the early-Victorian villages.

Womens dress was also that of Robin Hood foresters; they wore trousers under the skirts.

A letter in The Working Bee describes the colonists diet:

... We have pork, mutton and beef, cabbages, beans and peas... we shall have plenty of excellent potatoes. We bake our own bread and biscuits, as we keep a baker... we have four meals a day...

Hodsons new technology ideas had also been implemented little by little. All colonists homes were well-heated and ventilated. An observatory, which doubled as a dining room with a view for 40 people and a Union Jack on the roof, was erected, and so was an impressive windmill, used by the hodsonians not just for making flour but also rather ingeniously for cleaning their boots and shoes of the sticky fenland mud with the help of special rotating brushes!

It all went well for over a year, and in the summer of 1840 Hodson announced in The Working Bee his intention to produce agricultural machinery those implements which are made by the better order of mechanics, such as thrashing machines, drills, etc... Typically for any Yuletide Tale invented or real here comes the anti-climax.

There was no one to operate Hodsons sophisticated machinery. The new settlers were not vetted for their work experience and qualifications, and half of them were illiterate (Samuel Rowbotham, the communitys Secretary, one of the top positions in the Colony, was ignorant to the point of believing that the Earth was flat the fact that he tried to prove using as an example the Old Bedford River, which flanked the village). The other half were hedonistic or plain lazy. They were enjoying the good life and were less and less inclined to work, instead spending their days in drunken orgies.

In short, working bees mutated into sad sacks, and the Colony became a neighbour from hell (in modern-speak) for the nearby towns and villages, whose disapproving dwellers were no longer eager to buy Maneas agricultural and other products. Wild rumours (both true and false) about the colony were spreading all over England and had reached Owen himself, who was furious to see his principles distorted by ignorance and dissipation. Soon, Hodsons considerable personal resources petered out, and the local bank, which used to willingly invest into the Colony, refused to support him.

Thus, Maneas Utopia came to an end, ruined by its own main asset the people, who, as it turned out, were simply not up to the task spiritually, educationally, and morally.

If to the convinced reformers and socialists, like Hodson, the Manea experiment was an opportunity to put their idealistic theories into practice, most of the colonists saw it as a chance of an easier life, having undermined the old Biblical principle, He who does not work, he shall not eat, which Hodson made the Colonys main motto.

Maneas collapse was a precursor of a number of similar failures of much larger socio-political experiments, including that of the USSR, whose totalitarian rulers, while expressing some good ideas and showing considerable achievements in the spheres of industry and science (not limited to the shoe-polishing windmills), failed to create the so-called new person of high morals one of the cornerstones of Marx and Engels Communist Manifest and the Soviet Unions Moral Code of the Builder of Communism.

As Russias proletarian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky once wrote (for a totally different reason): The boat of love has crashed against the rock of reality.

Very little had been written on the Manea Colony during the 150 odd years since its collapse (in 1841) until a couple of years ago when Cambridgeshire Live published an article with the attention-grabbing headline Archaeologists uncover Cambridgeshires long-lost wife-swapping colony.

I was saddened that the supposed wife-swapping (I was unable to find any convincing proof of it in The Working Bee pages) was chosen to denote the Colonys most distinctive feature, and not its unquestionable technological and social achievements.

With the excavations still in progress, lets hope that the team of Cambridge archaeologists, led by Dr Marcus Brian, will be able to dig up some more positive and life-affirming relics at Manea.

Why? Because we all need a little bit of Utopia in our lives (which due to the continuing pandemic have been fairly dystopian of late). Particularly in the run-up to Christmas and on the eve of the New Year, 2022, which, I hope, will be beautifully Utopian for us all!

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After All: The 'merry men' who used windmills to polish shoes - E&T Magazine

LCD Soundsystems extensively hyped, painstakingly documented farewell concert in 2011 turned out to be far from its final chapter. Since then, the Brooklyn-based dance punks have reunited to headline festivals, tour internationally and release the 2017 album American Dream, which expanded their repertoire of self-conscious yet body-friendly bangers. Still, the bands history of self-termination produces a nagging sense that when the frontman James Murphy sings, This could be the last time, in their hit All My Friends, he might finally mean it.

As of now, there are at least 15 more opportunities to see LCD Soundsystem live. The band is posting up at Brooklyn Steel for their first New York shows in four years a 20-date residency that began on Nov. 23 and continues this weekend. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the concert begins at 8 p.m.; verified resale tickets are available (for a pretty penny) at bowerypresents.com.OLIVIA HORN

Theater

The duos touring show, their biggest yet, makes a stop at the Town Hall on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. (tickets start at $27). It features some of their beloved songs and fabulous costume changes, as well as their irreverent commentary on surviving the apocalypse just in time for the holidays.

The show, co-written by DeLa and Jinkx, highlights what they do best: dissect and subvert popular culture and tradition in order to create a fresher, more inclusive sense of community. DeLas caustic Donna Reed-ness and Jinkxs Joan Crawford-meets-Rosalind Russell quips are sure to lift your spirits and make you howl with laughter. Expect more naughty than nice.JOSE SOLS

Dance

The shopping season is upon us, that grueling holiday tradition. Thankfully, a potent antidote arrived this week in Brooklyn in the form of Big Dance Theaters The Mood Room, created by Annie-B Parson. The new hourlong work, presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music in association with the Kitchen, features an all-female cast and takes inspiration from Guy de Cointets 1982 play, Five Sisters, a critique of consumerism filtered through Reagan-era California wellness culture.

Parsons inventive movement at once surprising and relatable is currently on display on Broadway as a crucial and celebrated ingredient in David Byrnes American Utopia. In The Mood Room, that pointed physicality anchors her storytelling, which also mixes in spoken text from Chekhovs Three Sisters and soap operas, as well as an electronic score by Holly Herndon. The remaining shows through Sunday at BAM Fisher have sold out online, but the box office will be releasing a block of tickets each day. Call 718-636-4100 for availability. Also, a standby line will form 90 minutes before each performance.BRIAN SCHAEFER

Whether shes playing in a free-improvisation duo or notating compositions like Eight Pieces for the Vernal Equinox, the pianist Kris Davis has proved to be a reliable bet in recent seasons. Her latest project is the multimedia effort Suite Charrire. It introduces a new Davis-led ensemble as well as fresh works from the composers pen all in response to excerpts from films by the artist Julian Charrire.

The suite will be performed this Saturday along with its cinematic accompaniment at 8 p.m. at Roulette in Brooklyn. (Tickets start at $20; the concert will also be livestreamed free on the clubs website.) Daviss recent track record is not the only aspect that is promising; her chosen collaborators for this date are, too. In addition to the composer herself on piano, her septet includes Angelica Sanchez on a Moog synthesizer, the violist Mat Maneri and the trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum all of whom possess distinctive profiles as interpreters.SETH COLTER WALLS

KIDS

Hanukkah commemorates finding a small amount of oil, which the Jewish Maccabees used to rededicate the temple in Jerusalem after they defeated the Syrian Greeks in the second century B.C. Sufficient for only one day, the oil miraculously burned for eight.

On Sunday (Hanukkah ends Monday evening), children visiting the Jewish Museum in Manhattan will also go on a faith-related quest, not for oil but for intriguing menorahs. This experience will shed light, too.

Included in museum admission (free for ages 18 and under), the Hanukkah Hunt drop-in gallery program runs from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Timed-entry tickets, however, are required.) Participants will receive an information sheet with photographs of four lamps in the exhibition Accumulations: Hanukkah Lamps. They range from an 1885 Eastern European model consisting of eight dollhouse-size lead chairs to the artist Karim Rashids 2004 silicone and stainless-steel Menorahmorph, which resembles a series of hot-pink volcanoes.

Little visitors will also search for an early-20th-century silver lamp, resplendent with carved lions and turquoise and carnelian stones; and Peter Shires 1986 Menorah #7, a painted-metal creation that doubles as a modernist sculpture.

In addition, the museum will dispense fuel for young imaginations: art kits with materials for children to sketch, collage and sculpt their own menorahs.LAUREL GRAEBER

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5 Things to Do This Weekend - The New York Times

The new law would give the EU the ability to impose counter-sanctions on individuals, companies and entire countries. Effectively, allowing the EU to fight back as an entity against or for one of its members if they should find themselves in a difficult position.

The highly sensitive draft law would give the EU the power to act as a foreign policy determiner. It grants Brussels the legal right to fight if one of its members feels threatened.

The move by Brussels will be being monitored very carefully by China, Russla and the USA as the three major power players will have to think twice before imposing sanctions on the EU or any of its nations.

The proposal is currently being put through the legislative process and is likely to be approved as both Germany and France have backed the idea.

Germany has said the move would be an evolution of the EU towards a European federal state. It would be the biggest gain for the EU in foreign policy powers in decades.

The plan will allow Brussels to impose economic pain on any country that seeks to economically blackmail the EU.

The EU has been planning for the so-called United States of Europe in recent weeks even holding an event to discuss the plan on Friday.

Brussels has felt continually hamstrung in recent years, particularly by America and the former US President Donald Trump who threatened a trade war with Europe - a sentiment Biden has maintained. The threats have now prompted the EU to toughen up its powers of retaliation.

The federalist EU 'superstate' has also become more of a reality since Brexit freed Brussels bureaucrats from UK blockers - but not every member state is in support.

Speaking at the How to reform the (European - PAP) Union for the future of Europe?" event on Friday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made clear his feelings towards the suggestion labelling it as a "dangerous utopia".

Mr Morawiecki said: "We say that the creation of a single European state, 'the United States of Europe' is a kind of utopia, a dangerous utopia that cannot be constructed solely on the basis of legal assumptions and the extended competences of individual institutions.

"Here our voice may be weaker or stronger, but the more we speak to common sense and show that these differences not only cannot and should not be 'equalised'."

He added this "would impoverish the European heritage" and would lead towards "a very dangerous experiment with many utopian features."

The Poland PM also took a swipe at the common currency project which was introduced by the EU.

READ MORE:Army swoops to evacuate 50 homes over explosion fears

A number of MEPs have also vowed to take on the new German coalition Government should they choose to speed up plans for the proposed super-state.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, all came together at a joint conference to speak about the proposal.

Ms Le Pen explained the alliance is "all the more necessary now that we are faced with a German coalition which has made federalism a priority and will definitely also increase migration pressure".

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki joined Ms Le Pen in unity tweeting they agree in a wish for "a Europe of nations to give back to the peoples of Europe their freedom and their sovereignty".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said: "We want to change the politics of Brussels."

Following the joint conference on Saturday, the alliance released a joint statement in defiance against the proposal.

They said they would not support "a Europe governed by a self-appointed elite".

The alliance added that "only the sovereign institutions of the states have full democratic legitimacy".

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EU just gave itself a sledge hammer with new law that makes it as powerful as USA & Russia - Daily Express

Looking to celebrate the new year in style this month?

There are plenty of eclectic choices to dig into that will kick off 2022 with a bang.

Take a look at some of the best events, parties and fireworks displays happening in Leeds on New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve at The Domino Club

The popular Domino New Year's Eve shindig is back and is set to be bigger and better than ever this year.

A collection of Domino favourites will play the event, with in-house band The Domino Funk and Soul Band joining them on stage for a night of funky favourites.

Reverend Cleve Freckleton is set to host the party, with each ticket sold including a complimentary drink on the house.

Leeds legendary club night Casa Loco returns to Warehouse to see out the year in style with 3 rooms of bassline classics.

Headlined by Joe Hunt and Mark Howarth, the New Year's Eve extravaganza is set to be a sell-out event with tickets costing 25.25 for their fifth release.

Utopia presents New Years Eve

This New Year's Eve, Utopia will be delivering a creative vision of the ultimate immersive nightclub experience at Pryzm.

Expect a full venue decor transformation, LED wall graphics, festival style production and some of Leeds' best DJs soundtracking the night.

Midnight Modern Art Madness

Midnight returns to Sheaf Street this New Year's Eve for a night of feral fun and dance music on demand.

This year's theme is Modern Art Madness - come dressed as a masterpiece, whether that be minimal, cubist, expressionism or futurism.

Beaver Works hosts their seven room underground party for New Year's Eve, with circus performers, live bands, firework displays and a bonfire all included.

New Year's Comedy Special

Celebrate the end of 2021 at the HiFi Club with their New Year's Eve Comedy Session special starring Justin Moorhouse, Eddy Brimson, Lou Conran and Alex Boardman.

The show starts at 7.30pm and finishes at 10pm, giving attendees plenty of time to party afterwards.

Support the YEP and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news and the latest on Leeds United, With a digital subscription, you see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.

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New Years Eve in Leeds 2021: best events, fireworks displays and parties to celebrate the start of 2022 - Yorkshire Evening Post

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for AMCs The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 2 episode 10, The Last Light and Fear The Walking Dead Season 7 episode 8, Padre.]

First, we had walkers. Now, with World Beyonds last post-credits scene, it seems the Walking Dead franchise is giving us a new spin on the undead: Runners. And thats exactly what they do they dont walk, they run. Fast. More than that, they exhibit signs of having short-term memory, and they have decent strength, too. Uh-oh!

While this is the first time weve seen speedy zombies in the TWDU, it isnt necessarily the first time weve seen the undead as smart. Early in Season 1, walkers appeared to be capable of remembering and even had semi-advanced motor function; Morgans (Lennie James) zombified wife not only remembered where her family was, but she was also capable of climbing the stairs and turning the doorknob to get into the house. Terrifying? Sure. A sign of brain functioning or instinct beyond feeding? Almost certainly.

Steve Swisher/AMC

But as the show went on, whether due to walker decomposition or behind-the-scenes changes, those glimmers of walker intelligence faded. Zombies, for the most part, existed as a straightforward threat; they were slow, their only motivation was to feed, and they were easily killed with a bullet, knife, boot, tire or screwdriver to the head.

The French zombies are completely different. Were guessing their chief motivation is still to munch on the flesh of the living (they are zombies, after all), but theyre capable of memory (the French zombie remembered where her attacker left the room and started to break down the door), they reanimate horrifyingly quickly (the scientist was only down for a minute at most before getting up again as a walker), and theyre strong enough that their blows can dent steel. Let that sink in.

In that scene, we also get a few hints about how the outbreak started. Its implied that a group of French scientists called the Primrose team either created the walkers (which the graffiti on the wall, reading the dead were born here, supports), or they tried to cure them and ended up making everything worse, or both. Those scientists left for a conference in Toledo, Ohio, before the outbreak, and they never came back. Ohio is an interesting location for the franchise to choose, given that the Commonwealth is located there in the comics; on the show, however, its in West Virginia.

How the franchise uses these zombies and ideas remains to be seen, but there are several theoretical options. The first and most immediate would be to incorporate the zombies into The Walking Deads last 16 episodes as a new threat, but given that the Reapers havent yet been dealt with and the Commonwealth storyline is just taking off, introducing a new kind of zombie there would be tricky and might make the last season feel overstuffed.

The second option would be to fold this storyline into Fear The Walking Dead, which seems slightly likelier. We still dont know what Padre is or where it is, so its possible some of the scientists from the Primrose team made it there and are continuing to work on a cure. Maybe there are runners there or maybe there arent, but we do know the Primrose scientists were in the United States and presumably, if they survived, they continued their experiments. So, the potential for variants still existsand wouldnt it make Padre more interesting if its not the perfect utopia its rumored to be? Its also possible Alicias (Alycia Debnam-Carey) mysterious illness is tied to the variants somehow: If she was bitten by a regular walker, she really should be dead.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Other options are farther out and less certain. Depending where Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) go in their spinoff, they could run into these new walkers and wind up in a storyline that involves the scientists. Putting two original franchise characters in a scenario where walkers are scary again would make for interesting television, and it could definitely generate interest in the spinoffas of now, plot details have been kept under wraps. Theres also the possibility that these walkers or the scientists fuel an episode of Tales of the Walking Dead, although it would be a pity for them to show up only briefly in an anthology show.

The last, and maybe most likely, option would be for these runners to spice up the action in the Rick movies. We still dont have a release date for the first of the planned trilogy, but since this scene takes place overseas, its unlikely anyone without access to a helicopter is getting there. It would certainly keep Rick from his family if he was flown over to France and he then had to deal with fast, strong, smart zombies.

However theyre factored into the franchise, itll be intriguing to see how this bit of world-building expands the TWDU. Were looking forward to learning morebut if we were in the survivors shoes, wed definitely rather deal with good ol garden-variety walkers.

The Walking Dead, Returns February 20, AMC

Fear The Walking Dead, Returns April 17, AMC

Tales of the Walking Dead, Premieres Summer 2022, AMC

Untitled Daryl & Carol spinoff, Premieres 2023, AMC

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How That World Beyond Post-Credits Scene Changes The Walking Dead Universe - TV Insider

A dozen people are riding in a dinghy atop the bumpy waves and deep waters of Darwin Bay, a caldera that took a mile-wide, circular bite out of Genovesa Island. The sea here is known as a hub for hammerhead sharks, and everyone aboard is eager to get a rare glimpse of the creatures.

This is the only moment of these trips when Im scared, deadpans Alex Cox, placing his hand on my shoulder for emphasis. Hes been a guide within his native Galpagos Islands for more than three decades, the last two of which have been with Quasar Expeditions. Though you know hes joking, a conspicuous note of trepidation sets in as you throw yourself over the side of the small craft into water which drops off precipitously straight to a depth of 250 meters from the rocky cliffs which encircle it.

Within moments, a massive, dark brown shape appears below with the telltale outline of the hammerhead. Its a nine-foot beauty of a beast, gently swaying side-to-side as it swims in the same direction I am, overtaking my pace with ease and returning to the darkness of the murky water as quickly as it had appeared.

Soon after this first viewing, a few groups of hammerheads, about a dozen in total, arrive, bestowing the snorkelers in the area with an utter, heart-pumping thrill as we encroach ever so slightly upon their turf (er, surf). After spending a few days with Cox, you realize hes always joking, but his one-liners are delivered with such a consistent monotone that youll miss them entirely if youre not clued into his mannerisms.

Cox is the head guide aboard Quasars M/V Evolution, a ship which runs several different Galpagos Islands cruises, including the seven-night voyage I embarked upon. The former Japanese fishing boat has been outfitted for luxurious exploration, sailing across the Galpagos with the style of a yacht crossed with the capabilities of an expedition vessel.

The ship is the ideal size for the region, as larger ones cant visit everywhere she can, due both to water conditions as well as restrictions on the number of tourists which can visit certain areas. Any smaller, though, and youre on a boat more akin to a private charter, which is that much more susceptible to choppy waters and likely doesnt have any outdoor spaces in which to congregate and enjoy the passing scenery passing.

With a maximum of 32 passengers in 16 staterooms, the Evolution is divvied up into three smaller groups on board shout out to my fellow Dolphins which are easily manageable for activities (again here, a larger ship could prove more cumbersome). Nearly 200 feet in length, the M/V Evolution sports four decks, with indoor and al fresco dining areas, multiple lounges and a full allotment of gear.

If the rhythms of a safari are game drives and sundowner cocktails, aboard the M/V Evolution, its daily snorkeling trips sandwiched between shore excursions such as hikes and nature walks. After a casual hammerhead sighting, for instance, you hop aboard to eat a loaded lunch and enjoy some leisure time before heading back to land, viewing another sensational sunset, and preparing for an evening lineup including a nightly seminar, a multi-course dinner and a bar which keeps on serving until youre ready to call it quits. As a word to the wise, with 6:45 a.m. wake-up calls for that first excursion of the day, youd be well served to display at least a bit of discretion with your nightcaps.

With multiple daily activities across a week of Galpagos sailing, the itinerary is stacked with an abundance of splendor and adventure. The week goes by in a flash, yet each day is so jam packed as to feel more like two or three in one.

The M/V Evolution

Jake Emen

All it takes is your very first step off one of the dinghies which ferry you from the ship to the shore to understand how unique the Galpagos Islands truly are. After sailing past the impressive Kicker Rock formation during our first day of the trip, we land upon the powdery white sand beaches of San Cristobal Islands Cerro Brujo, where a tiny sea lion pup perhaps two weeks of age serves as our welcome committee. You have two days to stop calling them seals, says Hernn Olaya, another of the guides aboard the ship. After that, you have to buy me a drink. Its a good thing Hernn doesnt drink, then, because few of us were able to succeed against the gauntlet he threw down.

When youre able to pry your gaze away from the outrageously adorable sea lions, you notice that the sand in front of you is crisscrossed with iguana tracks and there are dive-bombing boobies splashing into the sea in search of a meal. Bright red Sally Lightfoot crabs skitter across black volcanic rock, and in every direction, the more you look, the more you see, the colors, animals and scenery swimming all around you in vivid detail.

In the Galpagos, the landscapes are just as diverse and captivating as the wildlife. Black sand beaches and lava flow formations juxtapose with turquoise waters and end-of-the-earth vibes evocative of Iceland. But instead of geothermal spas and waterfalls, there are sea lions, boobies and species of flora youd swear were extraterrestrial if you were anywhere but here. Candelabra cacti somehow sprout from the rocks while bright yellow and orange land iguanas munch on their paddles. Deep red sesuvium bushes stretch to the horizon. But a stones throw away on the same island, you may find something entirely different, each little nook and cranny seemingly presenting its own distinctive ecosystem. You can see why Charles Darwin dug the place when he arrived there in 1835.

The animals capture more of your attention than the environs, of course. Like the huge sea turtles you snorkel with, and the even more massive giant sea tortoises you come across on land. Where, off in a green pasture on Santa Cruz Island, youll spot a scattering of them alongside cattle and goats, sitting in the grass looking as perfectly at home as anything else. The dolphins which may swim aside the ship as you sail from one landing to another, and the Manta rays which jump and spin out of the water in the distance. The land iguanas and marine iguanas, the many sharks, the penguins and flamingos, the sea lions and fur seals and parrot fish the list goes on.

On another afternoon, we stop at Santa Fe Island and experience what has to be one of the ultra youre-in-the-Galpagos moments. Within minutes of boarding a dinghy toward the shore, we spot a huge school of beautiful spotted eagle rays, and besides them, two dozen whitetip reef sharks. On shore, theres a large colony of sea lions, and a sea lion pup whos but a few days old paddles over to say hello.

This is like paradise, someone nearby says, as we take in the clear blue waters in the little bay, with such a wide assortment of wildlife on hand as to seem like a little Galpagos playground was built to put on a show for visitors. Theres something new in every direction, and after leaving the beach, we hop into kayaks for a different perspective on the same scene.

Now the sea lions begin tugging at the ropes which are used to tie the kayaks together for storage, and sometimes one or two of them take the reins and drag your kayak, while at other times, they let you do the manual labor as they hang on and get towed behind. Youre not supposed to let them grab the rope, but you can hardly stop them. The super playful sea lions are truly the dogs of the sea.

Even better is when you witness their zest for playtime by getting in the water with them. If swimming with hammerheads imbues you with respect for their power and presence, playing around with sea lions inspires awe and joy. We got the opportunity at Champion Rock, where time after time, a sea lion would make eye contact and seemingly encourage you to interact and mess around with them. You look deep into their big, reflective eyes and come to a cross-species understanding of sorts. Wanna play? The young pups seem to ask, hoping you take them up on their offer.

Then off they go, darting and twisting and turning and diving into the water with you. Take a deep breath and swim beneath the surface and theyll follow, circling around you and coming in for a closer look. Forced to waddle and flop and plod along when on shore, in the water theyre swift and acrobatic. The pups will play endlessly, while the big males, known as beachmasters, guard the area from would-be interlopers who could attack the pups or run off with one of the females in his harem. So when you hear one of the big boys honk, HONK, HONKing nearby, thats a pretty good cue that recess is over, at least for now, and you should give the crew some more space. Being in their environment, as if a guest in their home with their family, one mammal to another, is a phenomenal, wondrous experience.

And we havent even gotten to the boobies yet. Boobies are ubiquitous in the Galpagos, with the almost neon-tinged blue-footed boobies generally receiving the most attention. These doofy little characters booby comes from bobo in Spanish, which means clumsy or stupid are indeed a sight to behold. Their cousins the red-footed boobies are even more eye-catching, managing to display some elegance thanks to beaks painted a pastel blue and gazes which are more intelligent seeming and less clownish. Then there are the Nazca or masked boobies, suited up with an application of fierce eye black.

Back ashore on Genovesa Island, where we encountered the hammerheads in the water, all of the boobies were gathered together by the thousands, along with swallow-tailed gulls, frigatebirds, yellow warblers, short-eared owls, and more, an endless avian utopia. Youre treading on the same ground Darwin trod, in his very own eponymous bay. The spectrum of divergent flora and fauna is staggering; if evolution didnt hit him in the face here, it just wasnt going to happen.

The beaches arent half bad, either

Jake Emen

Youd be remiss if you went to the Galpagos and didnt also explore some of what mainland Ecuador has to offer, whether its cloud forests or its slice of the Amazon Rainforest. Certainly, the capital city of Quito, one of the oldest Spanish cities in the Americas, deserves your attention as well.

Dating to 1534 when it was formally founded as San Francisco de Quito, the historic old quarter is so well preserved and rich with cultural attractions, from resplendent churches to ancient convents and original plazas, that it was one of the first places to be declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

Stay right in the heart of it all at Casa Gangotena, a swanky outpost that was originally a single family mansion. The property is the only Relais & Chteaux hotel in Quito, and it retains much of that original, classical character as a private home, with gilded and ornate dcor and stylings, extra-tall ceilings and a grand lobby with a spiral staircase.

The hotel looks down upon the Plaza de San Francisco, and all of the citys main sites are within a short walk, which is mercifully convenient at over 9,000 feet in elevation, long walks may not be high on your activity list. Quito is not only the second-highest capital city in the world, but also the closest to the equator; ecuador means equator in Spanish, after all.

Whether you earned it with a long walk or not, back at Casa Gangotena you can indulge with an elaborate tasting menu dinner. The hotel is known for its dining program, where it showcases modern techniques and inventive new riffs mixed with traditional Ecuadorian flavors and staple dishes.

Its the allure of the Galpagos and the majesty of its surroundings, the legendary stories and historical pull of Darwin or Charlie D, as Hernn enjoys referring to him that likely brought you to Ecuador, though, and it might just leave you coming back for more.

Galpagos always surprises us, says Adriana, the third guide aboard our weeklong home away from home, the M/V Evolution. And if thats coming from a seasoned expert, then no matter how prepared you are or how much you read up on the trip beforehand, the vastness and diversity of the Galpagos biome will no doubt surprise you, too, and in the best way possible.

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Nearly 200 Years After Darwin, The Galpagos Remain One of the Wildest Vacations on Earth - InsideHook