Eskimo woman receives a postcard from the Galapagos, 33 years later

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The postcard Sherry Kirkvold sent herself from the Galapagos Islands has finally arrived, 33 years and a month after she dropped it in a whale oil barrel mailbox.

The postcard turned out to be prophetic: on the front there was a giant turtle, which obviously set the pace of the delivery.

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“I was very surprised and lost hope of ever receiving it,” the Esquimalt resident, lifelong naturalist and guide said this week.

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There are no postal services on Floreana Island in the Galapagos archipelago, but at Post Office Bay, visitors can leave postcards and letters in old barrels.

The idea is that other visitors returning home and living near the senders can pick them up, continuing a centuries-old tradition of hand-delivering the cards and sharing stories.

The visitor who took Kirkvold’s postcard was Susan Fanning of Strathmore, Alta. Fanning, who was traveling to the Galapagos Islands with her doctor husband, Ward Fanning, found the postcard just weeks after Kirkvold dropped it in Post Office Bay on March 15, 1991.

Fanning had a brother-in-law who lived in Victoria, so on a visit to the capital region after the 1991 trip, Fanning stopped by Kirkvold’s home on Gladstone Avenue to deliver the postcard.

The problem was that Kirkvold had recently moved away. The house’s new occupant sent it to a new address, but Kirkvold was not there either.

Kirkvold’s trail went cold after that. Fanning kept the card in a cupboard drawer, pulling it out from time to time to start investigating, but with Internet searches in his childhood, there was no easy way to find Kirkvold.

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Life continued and time passed. The Fannings had four children and their small-town medical practice was very busy.

But earlier this year, in a casual Google search, Fanning found a phone number for Kirkvold.

He called the number and, eureka, his connection with Galapagos came full circle. She mailed the postcard immediately and the two enjoyed a phone conversation about her travels over the years, including their close encounter on Floreana Island.

“Sherry was very excited and so was I,” Fanning said. “It was so fun to finally make the connection. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Kirkvold returned to the Galapagos Islands again in 1997, but did not reach Floreana, although he has since traveled widely, including to South America.

Over the years, he has held various jobs in the tourism industry, including aboard the Maple Leaf sailboat to Great Bear Rainforest, Blue Water Adventures to Alaska and in Kananaskis Country near Canmore, Alta., where the Fannings have spent time many summers. with his family.

Both women hope to see each other in the future, after bonding over their shared love of travel and ecotourism.

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“It’s an old connection and 1714769655 a warm friendship,” Fanning said.

When she picked up Kirkvold’s postcard in 1991, Fanning, then seven months pregnant with her first daughter, Haley, left her own postcard for her unborn daughter. He mailed it to her a few months later from a colleague in Alberta and it remains one of the most treasured memories of him.

Both Kirkvold and Fanning say their trips to the Galapagos Islands in 1991 remain a milestone in their lives, and being part of the long tradition of a stampless post office on Floreana Island has been unforgettable.

Post Office Bay was a stopover for whalers in the 18th century. Ships spent years hunting whales and processing them for oil. But they only returned to their home ports when the ship’s holds were full of barrels of whale oil, leaving many whalers nostalgic.

So they would leave letters in barrels and when passing ships stopped on their way back to England, the United States or other home ports, they would collect all the letters bound for that location and deliver them.

In some cases, such as the case of Kirkvold and Fanning, the letters would take years to be delivered.

The tradition continues today.

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