The Galapagos were seriously cool. At times I felt like I was on another planet. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Its kind hard to do this trip justice when describing it so I’ll try to keep it short and include lots of photos.
I went with my study abroad program so there were 24 students and three professors. A big group…but also a group rate. I will never again be able to travel to the Galapagos for so little money. We stayed five days and visited four islands: Santa Cruz, Isabela, Floreana, and San Cristóbal. We flew into Baltra (I’m not counting that in my island count because we were only there for about twenty minutes) and took big motor boats between the rest of the islands and flew out of San Cristóbal.
The first day we took a five minute boat ride from Baltra (an island that used to be a US Naval base during the Second World War) to Santa Cruz. We first visited Los Gemelos, twin volcanic craters, and then a huge tunnel formed by a river of lava. Lastly, we visited a giant tortoise reserve but could only stay a little while and didn’t see many tortoises.
Day two, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center and a much, much larger Centro de Crianza for Giant Tortoises. Between the two, I must have seen hundreds of tortoises. In the evening we swam at both a beach and a gorgeous mangrove swamp.
Day three, on Isabela, we went on a fourteen mile hike along Sierra Negra, the world’s second largest volcanic crater, to the site of the huge eruption of Volcán Chico. When we got to the eruption site and saw all of the dried lava and rock formations, I seriously felt like I was on another planet. Someone said it looked like a Salvador Dalí painting and she was right: it looked like there should be clocks dripping off of everything. The hike felt great. It was nice to finally get some exercise at sea-level. That evening we went snorkeling and I saw all sorts of cool animals in the wild: a giant marine tortoise, sea lions, a penguin (my personal favorite because it was the fastest and therefore the luckiest find), sting rays, tons of regal tang fish (Dory from Finding Nemo!), and a bunch of other cool marine life I don’t even know the names for.
Day four involved lots of traveling via motor boat, and therefore lots of sea-sickness. We started on Isabela, went to Floreana, and ended at San Cristóbal. On the Isabela to Floreana leg, we saw a huge school of dolphins (Wikipedia says they can also be a “pod” of dolphins). It was just so cool to see what seemed like hundreds of dolphins jumping and swimming all around us. When we got to land, we visited “Las Cuevas de las Piratas” or some caves constructed by pirates near one of the only two fresh-water sources on the islands. They were really neat. Someone made a really funny comment: “It looks like this should be Universal Studios, but its real!” So true. It was rainy and muddy and I was wearing flip-flops so I did the hike barefoot. That night we went snorkeling again and I saw a lot of the same animals, but this time I saw many more tortoises and was able to follow them around for ages just watching them. I also had a huge school of almost iridescent fish swim right under me. So neat.
We spent our last day visiting a beautiful lagoon followed by some beach time and a little museum. After a walk down San Cristóbal’s seaside main street and some ice cream, we headed back home to Quito.
It was a really relaxing trip where I got to enjoy nature at a whole new level. In retrospect, though, I wish my Biodiversity professor would have waited until after the trip to have me present on the effects of the tourism industry on the Islands. I was feeling guilty for a lot of the trip. Even though they were beautiful, I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there, like I was contributing to the destruction of that beauty.
But now for the Galapagos edition of…
FACTOIDS!
· I got to meet George, a giant tortoise who is over 100 years old and the last of his species, the Negrita de la Isla Pinta, earning him nicknames such as “Lonesome George.” For the longest time, scientists thought he was gay because he wasn’t interested in any of the female Tortugas. But finally, after 36 years, a little lady caught his eye. Still no baby tortoises though.
· Breakdown of a tortoise battle: First they face each other. Then stare. Then they stretch out their necks as far as they can. Tortoise with the shortest neck loses. Usually the losing tortoise is in denial so they do it a few more time just to be sure. When shorter necked tortoise finally realizes his neck is shorter, he walks away. End battle.
· In the Galapagos, the goat is pretty much the most hated creature ever. They eat everything, destroying endemic vegetation and taking food from endangered tortoise species. So a few years back, the project “Island Restoration via Mammal Eradication,” a systematic extermination of all goats, commenced. They used helicopters, hunting dogs, and even “Judas goats,” or goats with trackers attached to them, to eliminate the goats. Goats on Isabela and several other islands have been eliminated, however goat discrimination has not.
· I went the entire trip without getting a sun burn. I used half a bottle of sun-block and have advanced to expert sun-block applicator.
Okay. Weekend plans TBD. Vamos a ver. Until then, ¡que le vaya bien!
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