Floreana

I just finished reading this book. It was a page turner (if you like books of this sort)! You do not really learn much about the Galapagos, but you do learn a great deal about living life on a remote island. Margret Wittmer and her family left their native land of Germany in 1932 and arrived on the little island of Floreana. And they ended up spending the rest of their lives there! It is a real pioneer story! Life was a struggle at times. But they carved out an amazing but simple life for themselves. At times they were alone on the island, but at other times other people were living on the island as well. You would think that a handful of people on a little island could all get along. Right? Wrong! Some real "characters" lived on the island at times and made life challenging for the Wittmers. So some intrigue and mystery is thrown in there too. Wittmer is an excellent writer and I really enjoyed reading this story of her life. She died in the year 2000 I believe.

I highly recommend reading this book along with John Trehernes book on the Galapagos mystery which covers this period of Floreana's history. Margaret Wittmer and her husband and son were three of the first people to live on the tiny and almost deserted island of Floreana in the Galapagos. Margaret and her husband settled there in the 1930's - nearby were the very strange couple Dr Ritter and his acolyte and lover Dora. Later another very strange woman settled there (the result being a strange disappearance and death) but these are secondary in some ways to the simple way of life Margaret lived on the island. The constant battles with nature to survive. It must have been astonishing in contrast to have the Millionaires yachts arriving at various intervals. Some trials were greater than others, during her time Margaret gave birth to a new baby on her own. This account has been written by Margaret and is highly personal. She is not a professional writer and sometimes the narrative suffers but it is powerful and detailed enough to make this a minor inconvenience. The sheer fascination of someone heading off in the 30's to live the life of a near hermitism on an isolated pacific island is compelling. The complications of politics, people and enormous egos means there is ample material to carry you through.

This is a great book. It was absoulutely unbelievable how the Wittmer's started with practically nothing to succeed even their expectations and live on Floreana for as long as they did. You'll be glued to every page.

Galapogos Islan