One of the best things you can do to fight sickness while traveling is to go in with a robust, healthy gut. Strong gut microbiomes take time and discipline to cultivate, but they, in turn, keep us healthy on a number of fronts, physically and mentally. I’ve been tracking my own progress in rebuilding my gut after a course of antibiotics this spring.
Bacterial infections (or worse) are common occurrences when people travel, especially to developing countries. While antibiotics can remedy the problem, they really should be used sparingly. Their overuse in healthcare and food production is leading to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, and taking them when they’re not strictly necessary can cause harmful side effects, especially to the community of microbes living in our guts.
I’ve never been anywhere like the Galapagos Islands. Not only do they represent a range of geologic and biological diversity, but they are also fiercely protected by the Ecuadorean government through their national park status. Tourist activity is strictly limited to guided tours through specific areas, and those activities are notably expensive, but what we saw while we were there was worth every penny.
One of the principles of ecotourism is minimizing environmental impact, but that’s a tall order when tourists want the comforts of home. Tourism is growing in Galápagos, generating revenue that is supporting the national economy and lower-income residents of the islands, alike. But increased tourist volume can come with a steep cost to the fragile ecosystems people are there to see.
My college anthropology class in Ecuador featured a lot of ecotourism, something I have subsequently tried to incorporate into my own travels. Upon returning to the Cloud Forest this spring, I was thrilled to learn that local efforts to support conservation through tourist dollars had grown in the intervening years. But reality is complex, and it’s not always clear who benefits from conservation efforts.
The equator is a cool place to encounter physics: you’re moving faster, you’re farther from the center of the earth, and you weigh less. It’s also a common place to encounter pseudoscience: from the Coriolis force to balancing eggs, tourists may be told things they never knew were true… because they’re not. Skepticism is a healthy skill we could all use more of these days.
While in Ecuador this February, we ventured up to Cotopaxi base camp, which sits at 16,000 feet. Having seen the tops of some of the world’s most famous mountains, I already knew about the importance of proper acclimation to high elevations, but it was still a record for us. I also learned some lessons about how the thinner atmosphere can affect camera equipment.