Choose Your Own Adventure:
The Galápagos Mating Dance
You are a single
woman, about to embark upon your most challenging and dangerous mission.
Equipped with a libido and the instinct to bear children, your objective is to
find the perfect mating ritual in the Galápagos Islands. You bravely face
elaborate courtship dances, rough foreplay, and single parenting – but will you
return to the U.S. with the partnership pattern that works for you?
Chapter One
You are a blue-footed booby.
A male approaches you
and begins to dance,
taking giant steps in place
to flaunt his turquoise feet,
indicators of his health.
If red throat pouches
are more of a turn-on,
skip to Chapter Two.
He offers you twigs and grasses,
symbols of the nest
you will build together.
Impressed, you dance too,
face-to-face walking
on a treadmill.
You mirror each movement,
a connection found
in how much you can act
like one another.
His dancing escalates-
wingtips, tail, beak
all point skywards.
When you match
his sky pointing,
the bond is sealed.
He whistles; you honk.
Even after nesting begins,
you continue to dance.
If you would rather
he stop trying to get it on,
so you can focus
on being a mom,
skip to Chapter Three.
You both incubate the eggs,
taking breaks only to hunt.
While you are off to eat,
he strays from the nest,
dances the booby-two-step
with other females,
but when you return,
he comes back immediately.
If you prefer a partner
who can abstain
from flirting with others,
go to Chapter Two.
Your family stays together
six months, one season.
Once the juvenile leaves the nest,
you both move on to new mates-
no empty nest syndrome for you.
If you prefer a partner
to grow old with,
rekindling the romance
once the kids are gone,
skip to Chapter Six.
skip to Chapter Six.
