Day 2: Our second day started with us getting back on a bus to drive to Guayaquil's airport to bring us to the Galapagos. Our plane was surprisingly big, considering how many people realistically go to the Galapagos. The flight over was short, and I learned how generous the Latin airlines were, as we even got a snack on a 2 hour flight. The food was surprisingly good for it being free, unlike getting airline cookies in America. Mid flight, the airline crew also sprayed disinfectant and bug killer on all the bags to ensure that no non native species were being piggybacked to the islands. Their strict duty was to prevent more invasive species from infiltrating their way into the islands.
The airport was small, but just barely large enough to support our plane landing, but the interesting part was exiting the plane on the tarmac and walking into the terminal. The airport was an old american military runway that was used during WWII to help combat the Japanese. The airport was also located on the smaller northern island in the Galapagos, Seymour Norte. In the terminal was a wet floor mat for everyone to wipe their feet on to ensure that no external seeds were being carried through the grooves in their shoes. Along with the fact that there were dogs that were being ran through all the bags to check for any non native fruit, vegetables, or drugs being brought in. After getting off the plane we hopped on a bus again and drove down to the southern tip of the island to get onto a boat to cross a small channel to the main Island Santa Cruz.
This was the first glimpse at the beautiful tropical shoreline with salted tan rocks and tropical reef aquatic life peppered throughout the coast. We got to see a few of the endemic bird species flying around the area and the first hints of the native sea lions barking in the distance.
As we took the different bus rides into the area, we learned of the wildlife that inhabit the islands, along with the struggles that they faced from the increase in tourists and the invasive species snuffing them out. Examples such as the vermilion flycatchers facing poisoning issues due to the deet infected mosquitoes from all the travelers. Which I couldn't seem to find much evidence or studies of after looking it up, as many studies were saying the population is recovering after having competition issues. Another invasive species issue that was the blackberries, and how their ability to use little nutrient was allowing them to flourish on Santa Cruz. They were wiping out native plant species and spreading quickly due to them being sweet and having their seeds being often spread around by the many bird species.
Before stopping off at our hotel, we visited one of the larger turtle breeding reserves on the island, and got to witness the massive indigenous tortoises that inhabited the area. It was surprising to see how big they really were, after seeing them only in nature videos, their stature is really undermined by the camera. Their massive bodies looked like rocks just peppered throughout the fields, and they lumbered about to eat the grass in the area. We stumbled on a mud pit with an Alpha male and 3 females around him all basking in the mud to cool off. They were easy to tell apart as the males have longer tails and are often significantly larger in size. We also got to see a really rare sight of two of the turtles mating outside the main facility parking lot, which was surprising to see the massive turtle on top of the other, proving how rigid their shells really are.
We also took a small water taxi ride to Las Grietas after arriving at our hotel, which were rocky crevasses where the ocean washed in and we got to see many different sea lion families, bird species (a very far away blue footed boobie as well), and some beautiful tropical fish and shellfish. We got to swim in one of the crevasses that held water from the ocean in a giant rocky grotto that ran out to the ocean. There we got to swim amongst a few reef fish that resembled a cat fish, and Aiden, Kevin, and I found outcroppings that allowed for us to cliff jump off of. This is where I managed to slip while climbing and ripped the better part of half of my big toenail off, making for a pretty painful walk for most of the trip on the Galapagos. It taught me to properly care for my wounds in moist climates though, which is a wonderful survival skill.
After our trip to the edge of the island where our hotel was, we stopped into our hotel and got a free day for the rest of the time. Most of us walked around the shops and bought little touristy items, and we also learned how to properly and improperly haggle. I struggled with it at first due to my infant levels of Spanish knowledge, making it hard for me to say the prices I was willing to pay.
The airport was small, but just barely large enough to support our plane landing, but the interesting part was exiting the plane on the tarmac and walking into the terminal. The airport was an old american military runway that was used during WWII to help combat the Japanese. The airport was also located on the smaller northern island in the Galapagos, Seymour Norte. In the terminal was a wet floor mat for everyone to wipe their feet on to ensure that no external seeds were being carried through the grooves in their shoes. Along with the fact that there were dogs that were being ran through all the bags to check for any non native fruit, vegetables, or drugs being brought in. After getting off the plane we hopped on a bus again and drove down to the southern tip of the island to get onto a boat to cross a small channel to the main Island Santa Cruz.
This was the first glimpse at the beautiful tropical shoreline with salted tan rocks and tropical reef aquatic life peppered throughout the coast. We got to see a few of the endemic bird species flying around the area and the first hints of the native sea lions barking in the distance.
As we took the different bus rides into the area, we learned of the wildlife that inhabit the islands, along with the struggles that they faced from the increase in tourists and the invasive species snuffing them out. Examples such as the vermilion flycatchers facing poisoning issues due to the deet infected mosquitoes from all the travelers. Which I couldn't seem to find much evidence or studies of after looking it up, as many studies were saying the population is recovering after having competition issues. Another invasive species issue that was the blackberries, and how their ability to use little nutrient was allowing them to flourish on Santa Cruz. They were wiping out native plant species and spreading quickly due to them being sweet and having their seeds being often spread around by the many bird species.
Before stopping off at our hotel, we visited one of the larger turtle breeding reserves on the island, and got to witness the massive indigenous tortoises that inhabited the area. It was surprising to see how big they really were, after seeing them only in nature videos, their stature is really undermined by the camera. Their massive bodies looked like rocks just peppered throughout the fields, and they lumbered about to eat the grass in the area. We stumbled on a mud pit with an Alpha male and 3 females around him all basking in the mud to cool off. They were easy to tell apart as the males have longer tails and are often significantly larger in size. We also got to see a really rare sight of two of the turtles mating outside the main facility parking lot, which was surprising to see the massive turtle on top of the other, proving how rigid their shells really are.
We also took a small water taxi ride to Las Grietas after arriving at our hotel, which were rocky crevasses where the ocean washed in and we got to see many different sea lion families, bird species (a very far away blue footed boobie as well), and some beautiful tropical fish and shellfish. We got to swim in one of the crevasses that held water from the ocean in a giant rocky grotto that ran out to the ocean. There we got to swim amongst a few reef fish that resembled a cat fish, and Aiden, Kevin, and I found outcroppings that allowed for us to cliff jump off of. This is where I managed to slip while climbing and ripped the better part of half of my big toenail off, making for a pretty painful walk for most of the trip on the Galapagos. It taught me to properly care for my wounds in moist climates though, which is a wonderful survival skill.
After our trip to the edge of the island where our hotel was, we stopped into our hotel and got a free day for the rest of the time. Most of us walked around the shops and bought little touristy items, and we also learned how to properly and improperly haggle. I struggled with it at first due to my infant levels of Spanish knowledge, making it hard for me to say the prices I was willing to pay.
Day 3: Our day 3 started off to a pattern that would become regular with a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, which seemed to be customary at almost every hotel we went to. Diego had managed to get most of our meals included in the trip which saved money for buying random trinkets to bring home, but also helped us pave an experience for what the natives often ate, as most of the food was from local markets. Their staple food seemed to be a squash soup, that was often garnishes with parsley and served with popcorn. The popcorn was a bit of a shock to me, but it was their placeholder for crackers and and added a nice crunchy texture mixed with some salt.
After this we waited around for a little, and were allowed to have free time to travel back to the grotto area. I did not get a chance to go to it on the merit that my foot hurt pretty bad and I overslept by about 2 hours. So I took a personal stroll around the city and looked at all the shops and observed the personal living areas of all the natives. Learning that though it is a touristy area, the living conditions were still very indicative of a third world country. Where most of the houses had gates, fences, and their roofs lined with broken glass and sharp rocks to deter intruders from climbing their property to trespass or steal.
From there we went back to the hotel before our trip to Isabella to hear Abby, Elana, and Angelique's presentation on tourism around the country and how it was a staple resource for keeping areas like the Galapagos afloat. Also how tourism helped build up the need for education on the Galapagos islands, with them needing educated guides for the tourists who want to learn more about the local environment.
Afterwords we waited for our boat to be ready to take us to Isabella, having us eat fresh caught tuna steaks on a dockside grill restaurant. Again we ate the squash soup which was already becoming too common for some of the people on the trip by day 3. We also got to witness the skinned fish being thrown into the water and how the sea lions would wait on the edge of the boats like begging dogs for the leftover scraps.
Once finishing our lunch, we hopped on our water taxi to bring us to the Neptune 3, our carrying boat that would bring us to Isabella island, after a bumpy 2 hour trip. Many struggled to stay awake during the boat ride, whether being tired from the activities, or drugged from the Dramamine. After the watery bus ride we met up with our Isabella tour guide Pauola, who was a the sweetest short little Hispanic woman, who taught us of the beauties and struggles on her native island.
We drove to our hotel to drop off our luggage and ended up walking down the street to a bicycle renting building, allowing us to ride bikes around the dirt roads of the city to explore certain areas. We ended up riding down the main strip towards a flamingo pool that exists after mineral dredging back in the mid 1900's to help the native people use the rocky soil to make their housing material. Here the shrimp that swamp around the shallow pools provided food for the few dozen flamingos that lived around the islands nearby. This being their only food source since they don't normally reside on the Galapagos.
There we also saw the water purification facility for the island, that took water from the ocean and desalinated it for everyone to drink if they could not afford bottled water, and also slightly desalinated it for showing and toilets. This was extremely apparent when showering, as the water would run down your face and it tasted as if you were showering in simple hot ocean water. The reason for the poor desalination process was that their filtration membrane was damaged and needed to be replaced, but was taking forever to get the aid for. The part was close to $25,000 and was too costly to replace out of the towns small budget, so Ecuadorian government approval was pending and was doing so for the better part of a year.
After this we waited around for a little, and were allowed to have free time to travel back to the grotto area. I did not get a chance to go to it on the merit that my foot hurt pretty bad and I overslept by about 2 hours. So I took a personal stroll around the city and looked at all the shops and observed the personal living areas of all the natives. Learning that though it is a touristy area, the living conditions were still very indicative of a third world country. Where most of the houses had gates, fences, and their roofs lined with broken glass and sharp rocks to deter intruders from climbing their property to trespass or steal.
From there we went back to the hotel before our trip to Isabella to hear Abby, Elana, and Angelique's presentation on tourism around the country and how it was a staple resource for keeping areas like the Galapagos afloat. Also how tourism helped build up the need for education on the Galapagos islands, with them needing educated guides for the tourists who want to learn more about the local environment.
Afterwords we waited for our boat to be ready to take us to Isabella, having us eat fresh caught tuna steaks on a dockside grill restaurant. Again we ate the squash soup which was already becoming too common for some of the people on the trip by day 3. We also got to witness the skinned fish being thrown into the water and how the sea lions would wait on the edge of the boats like begging dogs for the leftover scraps.
Once finishing our lunch, we hopped on our water taxi to bring us to the Neptune 3, our carrying boat that would bring us to Isabella island, after a bumpy 2 hour trip. Many struggled to stay awake during the boat ride, whether being tired from the activities, or drugged from the Dramamine. After the watery bus ride we met up with our Isabella tour guide Pauola, who was a the sweetest short little Hispanic woman, who taught us of the beauties and struggles on her native island.
We drove to our hotel to drop off our luggage and ended up walking down the street to a bicycle renting building, allowing us to ride bikes around the dirt roads of the city to explore certain areas. We ended up riding down the main strip towards a flamingo pool that exists after mineral dredging back in the mid 1900's to help the native people use the rocky soil to make their housing material. Here the shrimp that swamp around the shallow pools provided food for the few dozen flamingos that lived around the islands nearby. This being their only food source since they don't normally reside on the Galapagos.
There we also saw the water purification facility for the island, that took water from the ocean and desalinated it for everyone to drink if they could not afford bottled water, and also slightly desalinated it for showing and toilets. This was extremely apparent when showering, as the water would run down your face and it tasted as if you were showering in simple hot ocean water. The reason for the poor desalination process was that their filtration membrane was damaged and needed to be replaced, but was taking forever to get the aid for. The part was close to $25,000 and was too costly to replace out of the towns small budget, so Ecuadorian government approval was pending and was doing so for the better part of a year.
Day 4: Day 4 was possible the most exciting and eye opening for almost everyone, as we started the morning off by heading out to go snorkeling in a reef cove on the side of the island. This was interesting for everyone because it gave us our first real opportunity to get close to the beautiful endemic species that resided around the islands when they weren't trapped behind enclosures or sitting in "reserves."
We headed to the cove by a small water taxi, where we had our snorkeling gear such as flippers and the snorkel mask combos. I opted for the flippers so i could swim a bit easier. I failed to remember my destroyed big toe, so as I put the flippers on I was met with some pain. It didn't get much better as I waddled into the water and swam around with it. The saving grace was that we got lucky in our snorkeling area, and we were able to go to a reef area that was usually too rough to swim in. This area was very heavily populated with Sea Turtles, who had no qualms against swimming right up against me and laurel. The seemingly flew through the kelp grass that was surrounding the right side of the cove. We also had an incident where Greg stumbled in the water and was quilled by a sea urchin, and had to go to the local hospital to get them removed from his palm. I sadly was too far out to notice into the cove to notice he was gone until I was back towards the boat.
After coming back from the snorkeling session we had plans to climb up Sierra Negra, which was the largest claimable mountain on the island, which was also a shield volcano. We took a very rickety bus that had no doors and wooden seats at mach 6 out of the town and up the mountain. As we climbed the mountain though I realized a short sleeve shirt was a bad idea as I was soaked and freezing before even getting off the bus due to how dense the fog was. This dense fog also provided an issue for seeing the volcano, as the biggest reason for going was seeing the massive coldarra that existed on the top of this shield. So after a bit of talking with the local rangers we decided to head back to the town and check out an alternate plan.
We first visited a tunnel system that were called lava tubes, and were created by pockets of fast moving lava carving out the underground cave systems. They created a double tube system that sunk into the grounds and had small stalagmites speckled throughout, and it was hidden away amongst an area surrounded by invasive passionfruit trees.
After that we visited another turtle breeding facility where we looked at a location that specialized in breeding specific species of turtles in certain holding pens to be released back into the wild to help repopulate the areas. The holding pens were a bit crude, as they looked like a zoo exhibit, and were ironic in the sense that they were desperately trying to prevent species from becoming extinct. All while insisting that they are letting nature run its course naturally, the cause was noble but the hypocrisy was spread thick.
We headed to the cove by a small water taxi, where we had our snorkeling gear such as flippers and the snorkel mask combos. I opted for the flippers so i could swim a bit easier. I failed to remember my destroyed big toe, so as I put the flippers on I was met with some pain. It didn't get much better as I waddled into the water and swam around with it. The saving grace was that we got lucky in our snorkeling area, and we were able to go to a reef area that was usually too rough to swim in. This area was very heavily populated with Sea Turtles, who had no qualms against swimming right up against me and laurel. The seemingly flew through the kelp grass that was surrounding the right side of the cove. We also had an incident where Greg stumbled in the water and was quilled by a sea urchin, and had to go to the local hospital to get them removed from his palm. I sadly was too far out to notice into the cove to notice he was gone until I was back towards the boat.
After coming back from the snorkeling session we had plans to climb up Sierra Negra, which was the largest claimable mountain on the island, which was also a shield volcano. We took a very rickety bus that had no doors and wooden seats at mach 6 out of the town and up the mountain. As we climbed the mountain though I realized a short sleeve shirt was a bad idea as I was soaked and freezing before even getting off the bus due to how dense the fog was. This dense fog also provided an issue for seeing the volcano, as the biggest reason for going was seeing the massive coldarra that existed on the top of this shield. So after a bit of talking with the local rangers we decided to head back to the town and check out an alternate plan.
We first visited a tunnel system that were called lava tubes, and were created by pockets of fast moving lava carving out the underground cave systems. They created a double tube system that sunk into the grounds and had small stalagmites speckled throughout, and it was hidden away amongst an area surrounded by invasive passionfruit trees.
After that we visited another turtle breeding facility where we looked at a location that specialized in breeding specific species of turtles in certain holding pens to be released back into the wild to help repopulate the areas. The holding pens were a bit crude, as they looked like a zoo exhibit, and were ironic in the sense that they were desperately trying to prevent species from becoming extinct. All while insisting that they are letting nature run its course naturally, the cause was noble but the hypocrisy was spread thick.
Day 5: Day 5 began with us taking an early morning jump out of the hotel to rush to our pickup taxi back on the Neptune 3 to head back to Santa Cruz. This boat ride back was a bit different as we had random guests with us who seemed a bit uncomfortable to be around us, especially as Abby proceeded to get violently sea sick next to them. Id chalk it up to a fun social experience for them but I would imagine they would disagree.
After getting back to Santa Cruz we checked back into our original hotel, and took off on our walk to Tortuga bay, which was a common vacationing area where we were able to swim and observe the mangrove wildlife. We were also able to observe many different fish and shark species as they allowed us to rent kayaks on the side of the cove. My fun was again cut short on the Tortuga bay expedition because I slipped while in the cove and sliced my foot on a section of sharp volcanic rock hiding in the water. I spent the rest of the time caring for the wound as everyone else had fun following smaller sharks swimming in the corner and riding kayaks around and observing the marine iguanas and tropical fish in the crystal clear water.
We also had to wait for another water taxi back to the main port from the cove, to allow us to enjoy the area for a bit longer and not have to walk back on the sand and blistering asphalt as we were all soaked and virtually a giant sunburn magnet. The boat took an extra 45 minutes longer to arrive and kept most of us pretty hangry while waiting. The view was amazing while waiting and the wildlife was interesting to watch as they mingled amongst the mangrove trees. With iguanas nesting amongst their roots and the finches hopping from branch to branch gleefully, they took quickly to the area as opposed to the finches moving amongst the city areas.
After hoping back on the boat to go back to mainland Santa Cruz, we sat for a short ride and got back to the docks to rush to our next objective for the day. There we went to the Charles Darwin research center which was a 20 minute walk from the main city square. From there we got to learn of all of the native species on the islands and how their impacts guided science towards discoveries of evolution. Along with that we learned of the impacts that were brought forth from human colonization on the islands, and how nonnative species introduced have wreaked havoc on the local animals and plants. After this we got to see the icing on the cake, which was the freshly preserved body of Lonesome George, and how they kept his body in dark isolation to preserve him in hopes to keep his DNA intact. With luck maybe one day they can recreate his species with genetic splicing and artificial insemination.
This marked the last day on the island, and we were allowed to roam around the shops after the Darwin center before heading back to the hotel for the night. Leaving the beautiful warmth behind and the tropical waters, maybe to come back again one day.
After getting back to Santa Cruz we checked back into our original hotel, and took off on our walk to Tortuga bay, which was a common vacationing area where we were able to swim and observe the mangrove wildlife. We were also able to observe many different fish and shark species as they allowed us to rent kayaks on the side of the cove. My fun was again cut short on the Tortuga bay expedition because I slipped while in the cove and sliced my foot on a section of sharp volcanic rock hiding in the water. I spent the rest of the time caring for the wound as everyone else had fun following smaller sharks swimming in the corner and riding kayaks around and observing the marine iguanas and tropical fish in the crystal clear water.
We also had to wait for another water taxi back to the main port from the cove, to allow us to enjoy the area for a bit longer and not have to walk back on the sand and blistering asphalt as we were all soaked and virtually a giant sunburn magnet. The boat took an extra 45 minutes longer to arrive and kept most of us pretty hangry while waiting. The view was amazing while waiting and the wildlife was interesting to watch as they mingled amongst the mangrove trees. With iguanas nesting amongst their roots and the finches hopping from branch to branch gleefully, they took quickly to the area as opposed to the finches moving amongst the city areas.
After hoping back on the boat to go back to mainland Santa Cruz, we sat for a short ride and got back to the docks to rush to our next objective for the day. There we went to the Charles Darwin research center which was a 20 minute walk from the main city square. From there we got to learn of all of the native species on the islands and how their impacts guided science towards discoveries of evolution. Along with that we learned of the impacts that were brought forth from human colonization on the islands, and how nonnative species introduced have wreaked havoc on the local animals and plants. After this we got to see the icing on the cake, which was the freshly preserved body of Lonesome George, and how they kept his body in dark isolation to preserve him in hopes to keep his DNA intact. With luck maybe one day they can recreate his species with genetic splicing and artificial insemination.
This marked the last day on the island, and we were allowed to roam around the shops after the Darwin center before heading back to the hotel for the night. Leaving the beautiful warmth behind and the tropical waters, maybe to come back again one day.