This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Everyone knows that the Galapagos Islands are home to giant tortoises, flightless cormorants, and other rare and endangered species. But hardly anyone knows that the island of Floreana is also home to another threatened species: the epistolary tradition, that is, letter writing. Here on this tiny island 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador a group of whalers established the first whiskey barrel mail box at Post Office Bay in 1793. The mail box is unaffiliated with any world postal service. Here’s how it works: Sailors leave letters for their loved ones in the barrel and take letters headed for their destinations from the barrel. These letters are hand delivered to the recipients though sometimes delivery can take years. Remarkably, the tradition continues to this day. Snail mail: endangered but not extinct!

With thanks to Danika Swanson for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.