Page 24 - Dreamscapes Magazine | Winter/Spring 2025

P A S S I O N P U R S U I T S
These cheesemakers are helping to
make GALAPAGOS deliciously sustainable
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY SUZANNE MORPHET
THE SCENE
Tucked behind pink-flowering hibiscus
hedges, leafy banana palms and towering
hardwood trees, Enchanted Galapagos Lodge
houses an inconspicuous one-story building
with a sloping tin roof. Once a storage space,
it’s now home to artisanal cheesemakers who
are putting Galapagos on the map with a
product these volcanic islands are not known
for—aged cheese.
Enter Media Luna Lacteos (Half Moon
Dairy). It took top prize at Latin America’s
2023 Copa America in Ecuador for its
camembert, a creamy, semi-ripe cheese.
Named after the Half Moon crater on Santa
Cruz Island, it’s rapidly becoming a favourite
among both locals and tourists.
THE BACKSTORY
Tatjana Angermeyer and her husband Dustin
Kinakin started their cheesemaking journey
during the Covid lockdown of 2020. With
tourism shut down and food imports
suspended, the Swiss dairy farmer up the
road was dumping milk down the drain
because he couldn’t sell it.
“And Rodolfo always had this dream of
making some cheese and aging it in a lava
tube,” explains Dustin, referring to Tatjana’s
stepfather, who was born into a cheese-
making family. In fact, Rodolfo’s father, who
emigrated from Switzerland to Ecuador in
1949, may well have been the first person to
make aged cheese in Ecuador, a country
where queso fresco has long been the only
style of cheese consumed.
When Rodolfo, now retired, and his wife
Judy, who owns Enchanted Galapagos Lodge,
couldn’t leave Galapagos during Covid (they
live parts of the year in Canada and Aruba),
Tatjana jokes that she “kidnapped him to
make him teach me how to make cheese!”
Added to this multi-family/multi-
generational story is Rodolfo’s son, Mattia,
who is a master cheesemaker in Germany.
Between Zoom calls with Mattia, hands-on
help from Rodolfo, an old cheese press that
Rodolfo’s father imported from Switzerland,
and a place on the property from Judy,
Tatjana and Dustin began experimenting.
HITS
Media Luna Lacteos now produces six
varieties of aged cheese, each named after
notable Galapagos locations. Cerro Dragon,
for instance, is farmhouse cheddar inspired
by Dragon Hill, known for its land iguanas.
Dustin credits the island’s rich volcanic
soil for creating “happy cows” that graze on
grass year-round, imparting unique flavours
to the cheese.
THE TAKEAWAYS
Starting a cheese business from scratch in
Galapagos hasn’t been easy. However, locals
no longer need to rely on imports to satisfy
their growing taste for aged cheese. And
visitors can enjoy a product unique to the
islands. The couple believes that their
passion for old-world cheese and their newly
honed expertise in making it will help them
overcome any hurdles ahead.
DS
TRAVEL PLANNER
Stay at Enchanted Galapagos Lodge and call
ahead to see the cheesemakers at work.
enchantedgalapagoslodge.com
24
DREAMSCAPES WINTER/SPRING 2025