Floreana

Book excerpt: The remarkable first-hand account of Margret Wittmer, who settled the island of Floreana in the Galapagos-600 miles from the mainland of Ecuador. It took Wittmer and her family weeks to travel to the island in 1932; they battled with the ties for three full days before they could land. Wittmer and her husband left their home and family in Germany, seeking a new life in a place not yet touched by civilization. Their first home was a cave, previously abandoned by pirates. They planted their first garden, only to find it torn up continually by wild boars. Five months pregnant when she arrived, Wittmer found the beauty of the tropical island constantly tempered by the traumas of attempting everyday life in a wild and lonely spot. From the mysterious disappearance of a stranger linked to another recluse on the island, to a missed opportunity to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The 56 years recalled in this memoir are full of exotic adventures and the joys and tragedies of a lifetime.