It was less of a milestone than I thought it would be, arriving on the Galápagos for the first time. There were no trumpets in the distance, no blue shock wave emanating from my Converses when the plane touched down, signaling to all that a childhood dream was being fulfilled. Instead, light streamed through a window. The doors cracked and were pulled aside. Hot air flowed in. I walked down the stairs to the runway, feeling the steel of the handrail already beginning to bake in the tropical sun....