I've told a fellow passenger when she picked up a snail shell that she should leave it because it would be taken away from her; and that's how it happened, when we were waiting for the departure in Baltra, she had to go back to her baggage, in which the shell had been noticed during the X-ray-inspection. The snail shell had been discovered and she was very surprised that such a small snail shell could be identified. That didn't surprise me, since I had noticed something similar on the trip to Mongolia shortly before this journey, when I still had a lighter in my hand baggage. At that time I had brought a lighter for a candle and you were allowed to take it with you on the flight to Mongolia. The wick of the candle had burned out and I left it somewhere. But I actually put the cheap lighter carelessly in my hand baggage and didn't think about it anymore. However, the small lighter had been discovered in this hand baggage on departure. At least there is still something metal on it, so that I could explain it to myself. But then I heard a woman who had been called to her baggage and now reported that she had to take a box of matches from her suitcase [1]. This was also noticed during the X-ray-inspection and therefore I was not surprised that this snail shell had been found. You can't take stones out of Mongolia, for example, I didn't do that either, and the picture of the snail shells and mussels is something from the past, it won't be possible anymore. One of the snail shells reminds me so nicely of fractals [2] and the other snail shell of the golden ratio of the constant Phi (Φ) [3].
What can you take away from the Galapagos Islands? You can take processed things with you and there are things that are so disgusting that I don't even want to talk about them. Who hangs blue-footed boobies on the Christmas tree? Or does a T-shirt have to cost 30 US dollars, not because it was particularly complex to produce, but only because it has pictures of blue-footed boobies on it. I am very critical when it comes to souvenirs. I've given up buying things like this a long time ago. Sometimes I take something with me, for example I brought chocolate or I brought tea from a trip to the Himalayan region. You can take things like that with you, you can also take a book or a picture with you. But most of the stuff is completely superfluous. And better stays there. In the shop.
Links and Annotations:
[1] Shortly after my trip to Mongolia, I reported on both events: “Then you stand in line for check-in, then for passport control, then for security control. That's when I've been taken out of the line, because I had a lighter with me. Why does the non-smoker have a lighter? On the outbound flight, you were not allowed to carry the lighter in your baggage, but you could carry it in your hand baggage. I did it so I could light a candle in the ger (yurt) – stop! - that's only half the truth, because I wanted to use them in the tent. Yes, open light in the tent! I didn't do it then. When the candle stopped burning from the wick, I left it in the ger, maybe it will help someone to light the fire in the stove. I should have left the lighter there. Finally I sat in the waiting area (stranded) and listened to a woman who had to go back to her checked-in suitcase, because the X-ray-inspection revealed that she had put matches in the suitcase. Elder people still remember how rows of suitcases used to burn in airplanes just because matches were packed in them.”
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/07/strandungen.html
[2] Conus marmoreus https://www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/images/MarbledCone.jpg reminding me of Sierpinski triangles
[3] Φ = 1.61803398874989484820458... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio
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