Eco-Sensitive Galapagos to Allow Cruise Ships

Even though a government-appointed commission established to manage tourism and ecological conservation opposes the idea, international cruise ships will this winter begin visiting two ports on the Galapagos Islands, home of a wildlife sanctuary that protects the endangered giant tortoise and a variety of flora and fauna not found elsewhere in the world. Although cruise passengers will be restricted to visiting the island of San Cristobal and the port town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island--areas that are not included in Galapagos National Park territory where the tortoises and many other animal and plant species live--it is a departure from the Ecuadorian government’s policy that has heretofore kept the archipelago off-limits to international cruise traffic, according to Travel Weekly magazine.

Galapagos-based cruise ships and yachts can now visit those ports, but critics fear that massive groups of tourists, such as those that descend from an international cruise ship in port, could affect the islands in ways that would undermine their natural beauty and ecology.

Permission to include the Galapagos on cruise itineraries will be tied to agreements by cruise companies to also visit contnental Ecuador, calling at either the main port city of Guayaquil or Esmeraldas on the north coast.

Travel Quiz: Which Pacific Rim city has the largest Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the world? 1) San Francisco, 2) Tokyo, 3) Beijing, 4) Singapore or 5) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Not Courting Californians: Vacationing Californians with campers are not invited to Port Townsend, Wash. A management and marketing plan created by the local chamber of commerce to control and balance tourism to the area, northwest of Seattle on Puget Sound, includes in a list of non-target markets: “People with their own campers,” as well as “California residents,” according to the Port Townsend Jefferson County Leader newspaper. Other groups on the uninvited list are: “restricted income travelers” and “fun on a budget” travelers. And just what have Californians done to deserve such a lack of reception? It seems that California travelers are viewed as potential residents and, thus, as potential contributors to less-than-desirable local population growth, the newspaper reported.

Closed for Christmas: Those planning a trip to Britain for the holidays should remember that many businesses, including restaurants, close during the final two weeks of December. On Christmas Day, for example, there will be no service by British Rail, London Transport trains and buses or National Express long-distance buses. On most other days from Dec. 15 until after New Year’s Day, services will be restricted. On the other hand, there are good reasons to visit. In London, decorative Christmas lights will be turned on every evening from mid-November through Jan. 6 on both Oxford and Jermyn streets. And the Chrismas tree at Trafalgar Square will be illuminated Dec. 5 through Jan. 6, with carols sung nightly until Christmas Eve.

Rim Rating: Japan, Hong Kong and Australia are the top three Pacific Rim destinations, according to a survey of 400 members of the American Society of Travel Agents, 63% of whom reported an increase in travel to that area over the last five years. The primary reason: stronger business ties between the United States and Pacific Rim.

Mummy’s the Word: Curators at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum are preparing a new exhibit of 14 pharaohs and queens to open early next year, more than a decade after then-President Anwar Sadat banned an exhibition of the mummies, some more than 3,500 years old.

The display will feature such rulers as the six-toed Seti I, Merneptah, with his yellow skin, and Ramses II. Once one of Egypt’s top tourist attractions, the museum’s 27 royal mummies were hidden away in 1980 under orders from Sadat, who said the gawking tourists and the undignified display violated religious sensitivities.

Quick Fact: Airline that employs a masseuse who travels between Los Angeles and New York and London and Boston offering free massages (a combination of Swedish and shiatsu techniques) and manicures: Virgin Atlantic.

Tusk, Tusk: African photo safari travelers take note: Safari Club International wants regulations on bringing elephant trophies into the United States loosened. This month the safari hunter’s organization filed a lawsuit to that effect in federal court. The group argues that its members actually aid conservation efforts, even though their ultimate goal is to bring back trophies such as elephant tusks, feet, tails and hides from trips that can cost $35,000 to $90,000 for three weeks of hunting.

The Tucson, Ariz.-based Safari Club contends that the hunting license fees its members pay to African countries are a major aid to those nations’ conservation efforts, and that safari hunters actually push poachers out of hunting areas. The hunting, the lawsuit said, gives elephants economic value, which encourages conservation.

The Interior Department says its restrictions on imports of hunters’ trophies are part of an international effort to stabilize the African elephant population, estimated at 400,000 to 700,000, down from about 1.5 million in 1978.

Comparatively Speaking: Average price for single lodging in Milan, Italy: $233.91; Sydney, Australia: $205.84; Caracas, Venezuela: $128.33; Johannesburg, South Africa: $78.46. (Source: Runzheimer International.)

Fair Warning: More than 700 arts, crafts and food booths will be part of the Village Faire, Nov. 3, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in Carlsbad. In addition to the street fair, which is in its 15th year, there will be animal rides, a petting zoo, a farmers market and street musicians. For more information, call (619) 931-8400.

Quiz Answer: Beijing, which seats 510. It does a brisk business at its walk-up window selling its most popular product: original recipe chicken.