Man hand delivers gift to Washago Ont., couple from their Galapagos Islands trip

Successful Galapagos postcard delivery A fellow traveller took the time to deliver a very special postcard to a Washago couple.

John Beardmore, who has become known as the Galapagos Postman, is following through with a century-old tradition dating back to the 1800s.

"I've been on the road for nearly four months now. I've been through southern Ecuador, South America, down to Antarctica, back up to central America, up through North America, and now across Canada to get here today (June, 27, 2024)," said John Beardmore.

John's journey worldwide has led him to a small town of roughly 200 residents in Washago, Ontario.

"I have a letter here for Aiden and Alisha; they posted the letter on their honeymoon.

"In 1793, there was a little box on the island, and sailors and whalers would put their mail in there, and hopefully, other people would pick it up and deliver it by hand," said Beardmore

John was inspired to take on this trip by his father, who suffered from ALS and passed away 18 months ago.

"I'm doing this trip to raise awareness for those sufferers and raising donations to help research," said Beardmore.

After many hours of travel, John arrived at the front door of the Mendes couple's home to hand deliver them the special note they had written to themselves just a few months prior.

"We went to the Galapagos after family day around Feb. 28, 2024, the beginning of March; it's just been a couple months," said Mendes. "It's overwhelming; I have a deep connection to community and family. I myself have a family that has been lost, and I'm a First Nation, so I take pride in connecting us across the island. The work you're doing (John) is amazing, and it's bringing back all those memories from a few months ago.

"To receive the postcard we wrote was really exciting because when we had written our postcard at the postbox, we weren't too sure who would be coming from Washago to come deliver our postcard, continued Mendes.

The ancient tradition lives on, as postcards will still be delivered to those who have dropped letters off.

"Remember to keep an eye out, the Galapagos postman might be knocking on your door next, "concluded Breadmore.