Crowley County Combined Library

As eloquent as it is alarming, Carol Ann Bassett's portrait of today's Galápagos depicts a deadly collision of economics, politics, and the environment that may destroy one of the world's last Edens. For millions, the Galápagos Islands represent nature at its most unspoiled, an inviolate place famed for its rare flora and fauna. But soon today's 30,000 human residents could surpass 50,000. Add invasive species, floods of tourists, and unresolved...

Colonial cities, misty cloud forests, towering Andean peaks, Amazonian rainforest and the otherwordly Galâapagos - for such a small country Ecuador has a stunning array of natural and cultural wonders.