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Start Over Subject(s) galapagos island Genre photographic print Genre digital image Location(s) galapagos island
The Handling of the Hacienda Prisoners in 1905
The view looking towards Wreck Bay shows the rails leading to the pier, and what was for a long time the archipelago's only lighthouse. “Johnson from London” lived in the shack next to the light.
Left: Manuel A. Cobos and Dagfinn on horseback, Progresso. Right: Karin, Tony, Dagfinn and Manuel Cobos. The photograph was taken in 1933 and was sent to friends Ruth and Alf Ødegård who, at that time, were back in Norway. The picture does not reveal anything about the great finanical crash which had already ruined both Manuel and his brother-in-law, Rogerio Alvarado.
Hacienda El Progreso, Main Street in 1905
Accounting Office and Armchair inside the Hacienda House
Bacalao, coffee, sugar, yucca flour, corn and cattle were the most important export products on San Cristóbal. Here, the Manuel J. Cobos is loaded with sacks from the trolleys on the long pier at Wreck Bay.
The Government House on Hacienda El Progreso in 1905
Locally Harvested Invasive Cedar at the El Progreso Carpentry, 2016
Great class distinction, racial prejudice, language problems and religious barriers made communication between Norwegians and local residents difficult in San Cristóbal. Upon their arrival in Galápagos, the Norwegian colonists were quite unprepared for these problems.
The Cemetery at Puerto Chico in 1905
Karin and Manuel Cobos with two-year old Dagfinn, Wreck Bay, 1932.
The romantic Karin revealed herself also as a woman with great willpower. In 1945 she was overwhelmed with marital problems, obligations as a mother of six, and financial difficulties. She and Manuel separated. With the help of the children and their father, she established her own cattle ranch. In 1952 she moved into the first “Pampa Mia” near Progreso.
The Hacienda Sugar Mill in 1905
1983 was an extremely wet El Niño year, and two years later Galápagos experienced one of the worst droughts in memory. But Snefrid (82) and Karin (77) on “Pampa Mia” hold their own for they know that the pendulum will soon swing back to normal.
Feral Goats above Hacienda La Tranquila, La Soledad, San Cristóbal, in 2014