Galapagos es muy chevere

My Galapagos experience can be condensed to boats, snorkeling, sun burns, beach time, hikes, ah-ah and pahoehoe, Jehovah's witnesses, and ice cream. Here is an excerpt from my journal from this week:

Yesterday we saw 40 penguins hanging out on a rock and 10 more swimming in the water. This was just a few hours after seeing 8 sea turtles resting on the ocean floor. Absolutely incredible. These islands are full of good surprises.

At dinner, my host family tried to convert me to Jehovah's witnesses. After a question/answer session on moral issues relating to religion as well as life in general (where do people go after they die? do you believe that money buys happiness? how do you try to live more simply? do they speak Spanish in India? etc.), my host dad pulled out his Bible and started reading verses to me; all of these verses had something to do with the previously covered questions and my answers to them. Besides this being an important part of their faith (talking about religious issues with people who may not have their minds completely made up or cannot properly express their beliefs in another language) I think he was making a sort of concluding statement for me and my short time spent with the family.

Then they started showering me with gifts. The dad gave me a conch shell necklace in which he had carved the shape of Isabela Island on one side and a caballito del mar on the other side. The older of the two brothers still living in the house then decided to quickly craft me a keychain girl wearing a purple hat. Receiving these gifts was nice but a little awkward since I had nothing to give to them. And saying goodbye was a bit awkward as well - I had to bid farewell the night before I left and wasn't exactly sure if hugs were appropriate or not.

4:30am this morning I was sweating in my room and cutting my fingernails...? The bus arrived shortly thereafter to take all of us and our stuff to the dock to catch a boat. By 5:30am we were cruising from Isabela to Santa Cruz to catch another bus and then another boat and then another bus and then an airplane. Dawn on the top of the boat provided us with a magnificent sunrise over the Pacific Ocean and the silhouette of a few volcanic islands breaching the horizon. I was lucky to get a seat on top this time instead of inside the oxygen-free, sea-sick chamber. En route, I saw sting rays leaping out of the water, sea lions swimming by, and flying fish fleeing from the sound of the boat.

Travel today has been quick, probably because of the fog in my brain left over from an incredible week and last night's short slumber. Now we are on our 3rd and final leg of the trip back to Quito, my home for only the next 4 days.



(pictures will be uploaded little by little)

Dinner with the family

Mornings out my window

One day of vacation

Today was a work day, so we went tubing in Mindo. or maybe it was rafting. Actually I have no idea how one would accurately define what we did.




And then I ate pizza. and it was good.

4100 meters + cabinas + walkin' shoes

Today 6 of us girls took a ride on the Teleférico, a flying cabina on a cable that carries eager tourists and nationals alike up to 4100 meters toward the Volcán Pichincha. At the top there are refreshment stations, new hostals, and kilometers of trails, which split in all directions.

At an altitude higher than 14,000ft, two steps uphill and we were all sucking wind. We hiked for probably 3 hours. Two of the girls were being stubborn and practically running towards the nearest cumbre, an unrealistic goal in our time frame. Looking down into the valley, we could see the vaaaaaast expanse of Quito. Some of the barrios creep up the surrounding hills, but most of the city is concentrated in the valley, spreading over 30 kilometers from north to south.

Around Quito

Escuela de Union Nacional de Periodistas

Yesterday, I had the wonderful experience of going to an Ecuadorian elementary school to give a brief and simple lesson about ecological footprints. The project is not something I would have taken on by myself, but it was a group endeavor as part of our "sustainability" project. It has been a long time since I have dreaded something so much, but the kids were great and enthusiastic and responsive to our questions. I would definitely go again if the opportunity presented itself. Maybe 9 and 11-year-olds are my true calling. but probably not.

A very Ecuadorian birthday!

Today I got 3 different cakes from 3 different people. I think that's a record.

Sunrise over the canopy and other wonderful things

After a 5 minute taxi ride, a 20 minute plane ride, a two hour motorized canoe ride, an hour and a half bus ride, and another 3 hour boat ride, our group arrived at the Tiputini Biological Station, just on the perimeter of the Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest.

The past week was spent climbing canopy towers, floating in the Río Tiputini (both in the canoe and out), learning the trails, taking candle-lit showers, sweating, running from ants and other scary insects, chasing monkeys, fishing, eating, sweating, catching bats in a mist net, finding frogs that look like leaves, sweating, learning new bird species, bug-catching, did I mention sweating?

5:00am came early every morning. The days were long and hot and packed with various activities to learn as much as possible about such a diverse ecosystem. My favorite morning was probably the 5:30am hike with Mayer, our amazing guide. This particular morning, we were able to see 5 species of monkeys (out of 10 found in this particular area of the forest) in a matter of 45 minutes! Mayer made it seem so simple to find the monkeys, but I was never as successful without a guide - they truly know the forest. In all honesty, it is impossible to choose an absolute favorite part of the excursion as the experience as a whole was incredible.

True heaven on earth (or at least heaven at TBS) was floating with a life jacket in a large, swirly, recirculating eddy every day after lunch in order to cool off. (I should also mention that thanks to the cooks at the station, I have found the Ecuadorian version of Ovaltine, and I plan on finding it in the supermarket ASAP).


(photos take FOREVER to upload, so they are trickling into the slideshow 2 at a time)