Galapago :)

Another great few days on the islands!

Yesterday afternoon a group of us rented kayaks. We kayaked our way to a little snorkeling grove where we explored for awhile. It was so much fun, rowing through the ocean, little waves breaking at the front and splashing everywhere. The wind was with us on the way there, so of course we had to fight it coming back. I'm really surprised that my arms aren't sore today.

Today we had a little field trip to Galapaguera and to el Junco. Galapaguera is a 7 hector nature preserve for giant tortoises!! We were able to see 4 or 5 giant tortoises. They are so cool--all wrinkly and super slow. The ones we saw are close to 100 years old! We also saw where they hatch baby tortoises and saw some that were about a year old. Tortoises are endangered because rats, cats, and other introduced species on the islands eat the young. So at Galapaguera they harvest the tortoise eggs, incubate them, and then care for the little tortoises until they are 5 years old and big enough to be released into their natural habitat without worrying about predation. I really wanted to bring a baby tortoise home :)

Next we went to a really great beach. I can't remember the name of it, but it had white sand, clear blue water, and great waves. We had lunch and then spent a couple hours playing around. After body surfing and jumping waves, I was really full of salt water! It was still so much fun.

El Junco is the only fresh water lake in the Galapagos. It is formed because of a rocky sediment layer, a low spot, and lots of time to collect rain. This is where lots of birds come wash the salt off of there feathers. Also, a couple years ago, someone introduced a species of fish to the pond. The national park then closed the pond for a year to remove all the fish. It is now all natural and fish-free once again. It was really windy up there...it kind of reminded me of home! There was also a great view of the highlands and the coast line.

It was such a great day! I'm planning on spending the rest of the night doing homework and getting some rest. Tomorrow we have another field trip. We are going to Kick-A-Rock and to Loboisla. Kick-A-Rock is this really cool rock formation just of the coast of San Cristobal island where there is suppose to be really great snorkeling. They say that we will probably see sharks tomorrow...scary! Loboisla is the island of sea lions. Here we are suppose to be able to swim and play with the sea lions! Another great day tomorrow, I'm pretty sure.

Anyways, all is well. I would love to share pictures, but unfortunately my camera is being difficult. It's a bummer, but I was able to take lots of pictures with other peoples cameras. I hope I can upload them to my computer soon and get them up here!

Take care!

¿Que más?

It has been a little rainy here the last few days. The weather man says the sun will be back Sunday...we are all excited. The sun usually comes out for a bit every afternoon. Today we hiked to a nearby cove and went snorkeling. It was super calm and clear, which was great. I saw a lot of random little fish and a few sea lions. I ended up climbing up some rocks on the far side of the cove (I cut my toe a little bit--ouch) to see some blue footed boobies! They let me get really close to them. I also saw a giant pelican hanging out with a sea lion! I took some pictures, but not on my camera...hopefully I can get them soon. It was Tina's camera; she is a girl we met here from Norway and she has a waterproof digital camera...it's awesome.

Otherwise I just hang out at the beach and spend a considerable amount of time doing homework. We have a lot of reading, a midterm Monday, a final next Friday and an 8-10 page research paper due the last Sunday. Whew!

Yesterday I took a break on the beach to watch the sunset. I took a picture to share with you!

I Wish I Were A Sea Turtle!

While out snorkeling today I saw two sea turtles!! Ah! They were so beautiful and graceful. Swimming around, flowing with the current. I followed one for a while as I was a bit mesmerized by it; up until a sea lion swam right by me. We circled around each other a couple times and he swam off. So cool...

I am pretty sure I am snorkeling every afternoon from now on.

Did I mention that the Galapagos is probably home to the greatest number of endemic plants and animals in the world...

I May Never Leave!

We made it! I am in the Galapagos. It is great.

We are on the island of San Cristobal (pop. 7000) in the largest of the 3 cities. It is very small and simple compared to Quito. All of the roads are either dirt or brick and it is possible to walk anywhere in town.

Here is a picture from the steps of our University, it is located just across the street from a beach! We definitely spend all our time there before class and during our break. swimming/playing frisbee/or just enjoying the view. A majority of our afternoons are free and we plan on spending them exploring the island. Today I went swimming all afternoon, but there is also snorkeling, hiking, bike riding, etc. I plan on snorkeling tomorrow!

San Cristobal island is the only island in the Galapagos where humans and sea lions share the same beaches. Today while swimming around and a sea lion popped up out of the water a few feet in front of us! I've also seen some sweet pelicans and crabs and lizards. Humans are required to stay 2 meters away from all the wildlife so not to disrupt their normal behaviors more than we already have.

My family here is a lot different from the one in Quito. Just like the island itself they are much more calm and laid back. Here I have a brother who is 14 and speaks English very well. Everyone in my group are paired up with a home stay. Here I am with Ali instead of Tara. There are two other girls are living with relatives of our family, so I think we will be spending a lot of time together. Our house is really small and completely cement. Ali and I share a room with a bathroom. It is very quaint and pleasant. This morning we were woken up at 4:30 by roosters crowing very loudly. Apparently so was the rest of the group.

Our professor's name is Diego and he spends a lot of time in the Galapagos. For the next two weeks we will be learning about Human Ecology. This is the study of the relationship between people and their environment. He gave us a rundown of the class today and it sounds really interesting.

The next 3 weeks are going to be amazing!

The Amazon

We were meandering along the Napo River in a small, open aired boat. The wind felt amazing against the humid air and the scenery was ever so captivating. We spent a couple hours in this boat Friday morning before we transferred to chiva for another two hours. A chiva is a basically a bus without sides and is generally used as a party bus during celebrations. Not ideal for a rough, dirty ride through the jungle, but whatever. We then had another long boat ride on the Tiputini River before we arrived at the ever so remote Tiputini Biodiversity Station. It was surprisingly neat and modern there with their own water system, electricity in the morning and evening, a really nice library/laboratory, and a great little dining area. The station is run by the University of San Francisco in Quito (where my classes are) and is used only for government approved research and for certain classes from the University. They have this really awesome research project that we were able to learn about. With help from Nation Geographic, they have placed a bunch of heat & movement sensing cameras along their trails. These cameras have captured over 25,000 photos of wild animals in the nearly untouched rainforest. This site has produced some of the only pictures of a couple of rare species. We were able to view some of the pictures one night. It was really cool. We also had to look out for the cameras and disable them as we walked by. Lindsey messed up once so Colin, Kate, and I are all in a picture!
While we were there we spent our time rotating through the many sites of the jungle. I went on a four hour hike through the rainforest where we saw many insects—a jumping stick, a bull spider, the tarantula, bullet ants, butterflies, etc—and a few other animals—lizard, toad, monkeys. I also saw the biggest tree of my life! It was a buttress tree probably is as wide as 20 grown men with their arms spread. Here is a picture of me with about half of the trees trunk. In the rainforest the layer of nutrients in the soil is only right on top and does not go very far down. Therefore it makes no sense for trees or plants to have deep roots. So in order to support themselves, trees like the buttress have really tall, wall-like roots outside of the ground. The also have a system of tunnel like roots that spread out for miles to help support and to find a major water source for the tree. The researchers measured a root of one of these trees and it was over a mile long stretching all the way to the river! This hike was pretty adventurous for me. I caught a toad, pet a tarantula, and ate ants! The ants are a local favorite—they taste just like lemon!
I also hiked to a bird tower. This tower is over 120 feet tall and the top balcony sits above the canopy of the forest. Here we were able to bird watch. We saw toucans and macaws and some of the prettiest birds ever! Look up a paradise tanager—seven colors on one bird! We stayed until sunset that night. My group enjoyed this tower so much that we decided to return for the sunrise on Sunday. We had to leave the station at 5:30 am. The sunset was not quite what we expected—there were so many low clouds that the sun was impossible to see. Still, it was amazing. We sat and ate our breakfast while we watched birds and enjoyed the early morning. When we got back, I accidentally, well at least unknowingly, picked up a baby poison arrow frog! I saw it and thought it was really cute and wanted to show everyone else—it was only as big as my fingernail! Fortunately, they are only dangerous if their poison comes in contact with a mucus membrane so I just had to wash my hand immediately!
There was also a canopy walk. This is like a giant playground where we went to hang out with the monkeys and other animals of the canopy. We had to wear harnesses and strap to a rope as we crossed those bouncy bridges that were at least 100 feet above the ground. Here we saw quite a few monkeys and more really cool birds. I also got bit by a lot of ants! The live on the trees and protect them from invaders—including humans. It was pretty scary up there but I really enjoyed it!
One evening we went on a night float where we were able to see caimans! I was also hoping to see the stars, but it was really cloudy. Apparently it is cloudy a lot there, probably because it rains nearly everyday. I don’t know what I was expecting in the rain forest.
At least it was sunny our last afternoon when we all took a float down the river! With life jackets on, we let the current push us down the Tiputini River as we laughed and splashed around. I was pretty hesitant about getting in, but it was so much fun! A boat followed us down and greeted us with cookies when we were ready to head back.
It was so humid there! Showering was useless, as soon as you put clothes on you are sticky and gross again. It was so nice to come back to Quito and put on dry clothes. Haha. The Amazon was amazing. I definitely want to go back.

Just finished my last test for the week! Yesterday´s was a killer...2 hour Spanish oral exam followed by an hour written. Ugh!! Today was much easier though I still have 6.5 hours of class left and a research paper due next week.

Tonight I will be packing for my trip to the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon. We leave early tomorrow morning--we fly for half and hour, drive for 4, and then take a boat for 3 hours to get there! I´m pretty excited. We´ve been studying some of the plants and animals we will be seeing. We return from our trip late Monday, so it is a pretty short stay.

Well, I have to get to class!

OH JEEZ

So I know I said I had to stay away from the interent unitl I finished my homework...but look what I found in my shower this morning! Ah.

It was 4 or 5 inches long. No exaggerating here. My brother came and took care of it for me though I was still freaking out. I swear I saw slugs all morning!

Random Facts About Ecuador

* Here there is always 12 hours of sunlight everyday, all year long due to their position on the equator. You can expect the sun from 6-6.

*Traffic here is completely crazy! All rules and regulations are solely suggestions. Pedestrians do NOT have the right away. Passing on a two-way highway with oncoming traffic is completely possible. Red=stop Green=go Yellow=accelerate

*Do not flush the toilet paper. This may cause extreme flooding.

*Many things are much cheaper here:
-bottle of water $0.25
-24 roses $2.50
-one bus ride $0.25
-gallon of gas $1.45
-gallon of diseal $1.03

Of course all these prices are relative to their income

*Fruit is in season year round and they eat it for every meal! It is so delicious and there is a ton of variety. We have fresh squeezed juice everyday for breakfast. Mmm!


That is all I have for now. It is going to be a busy week. I have lots of homework for tomorrow, a Spanish test (oral and written) Wednesday, and an Ecosystems midterm on Thursday. Friday we leave very early in the morning for the Amazon. We return Monday and have a research paper due Wednesday. So. I will probably not post again until Thursday or maybe even Tuesday. All is well...wish me luck!

Remember When I Hiked 2 Volcanos in 3 Days

Our first day was spent traveling. We all hoped that meant a day of sleeping, but our professor thought otherwise. We stopped every 20-40 minutes to get out and look at something or other…the layers of pumice and soil…the pretty lake…the church…and so on. It was all interesting, but no one enjoyed the time it added to our trip.

Our first two nights were spent high in the mountains at an inn ran by indigenous people. The rooms were cement squares with 4 bunk beds, a fire place, and a simple bathroom. There was also a main building where we met to eat and pass extra time. Several of us spent most of the first night talking with children of the community. They were very excited to talk with us and we even played some games.

We awoke chilly and early the next morning—they started a fire for us before bed, but it didn’t last long—to head to Chimborazo. This is and extinct, snow capped volcano. We had a 7 km hike at 15000-18000 feet high. We discovered the effects of altitude, the beauty of the paramo (like a tundra) and really had a great time. I felt like a little kid throwing snowballs and climbing giant rocks. It was a beautiful hike. We had lunch late in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day exploring the community we were staying in.

The next day we went on an adventure. It was called this because no one really knew where we were going. We were looking for a cloud forest, which is a type of ecosystem that is much like an Andean forest only high enough in the mountains to have very low clouds most of the time. After 3 hours of driving we found one! We were able to get out and walk around and find lots of unique plants. Our adventure ended in Rio Bamba where we stayed at a very nice hotel. This was my first and quite possibly only hot shower in Ecuador. It was amazing!!

Saturday morning we awoke early again to drive to our next destination. We hiked up a portion on Cotopaxi, the second highest active volcano in the world. This hike was only 2 km, so I wasn’t expecting it to be hard. Apparently it is 500 feet higher than the highest point of the last hike. I was out of breath after I got off the bus! This hike was also much steeper, and colder, and windier, and it was snowing a bit. It was difficult. But we all made it to the top where we were able to rest and see the glacier that exists there. A glacier on the equator—crazy! The hike down was much easier than up and we were already for lunch.

We made it back to Quito in the evening where I spent the evening catching up with my family here.

Random Pictures I Happened to Have Time to Post...

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Heading out for the weekend!

Remember all that homework I had?? Well instead of getting it done, Tara and I were up until midnight talking to Tato. We had some really interesting conversations. I plan on sharing it all with you, but I just don´t have the time right now. Tato calls Tara and I his ñañas. This is a very endearing term from a local language meaning sisters or close friends. We both enjoy spending time with our brother very much.

Tomorrow we are leaving very early in the morning. We have our first field trip to Rio Bamba! Here we will be mountain climbing! :S The altitude gets to me when I go up 4 flights of stairs, I´m kind of nervous about climbing a mountain, but it should be a great experience! I won´t have internet access while I am there, so I won´t be able to share my adventures until Monday or after.
Wishing everyone well back home!

My weekend...

Always an adventure here in Ecuador—I stood in two hemispheres at one time! (Note the picture!) I actually did this twice since the original Mitad de Mundo ended up not being the equator line. At the first sight there is a large monument and a small city filled with culture and vendors. The new sight has a village reconstructed by indigenous people and several experiments that proved it IS the middle of the world (aside from the GPS findings). I was able to balance a raw egg on a nail!! It was really interesting. We also visited the Virgin of Quito, which is a giant statue of a virgin located on one of the sacred hills surrounding the city. From the top of this you could see most of the city. It is huge. Hills upon rolling hills of square, adobe style house as far as the eye can see. Quito is home to 2 million inhabitants and sits in a valley between two mountain ranges. It is 60 km long and only 10 km or so wide. I don’t quite know what this is in miles, so you can do the math. It’s huge. That Saturday and that afternoon we were also supposed to visit several local churches. Plans changed when there was a large festival that brought thousands of people to the streets and caused many places to be closed. We ended up being able to experience a great part of their culture and see many different people. It was such a unique experience. As great as it was, we had to be very careful not to become victims of theft while among a large crowd. One of the girls of our group had her phone taken when a man ‘bumped’ into her. My family provided Tara and I each with a cell phone & I hope that nothing happens to them.

Sunday we took a trip. We drove through a couple small, poor, indigenous towns. The elders wander the streets in traditional clothing. They are barefoot and have bulky bundles on their back. Their faces are dark and deeply wrinkled. Children also wander the streets barefoot. They have an innocence about them that is indescribable. The people in these towns fascinate me and I enjoy watching them very much. Their lives are difficult and they have little, yet they seem to have little worries. Many hang out on the corners laughing and joking. Others shuffle in the dirt trying hard to make a living.
Needless to say I enjoyed the drive as much as I enjoyed the destinations. Yesterday the entire family—poppi, mammi, Jonny & his wife, Tato, and Chano—took Tara and I to see the countryside. We drove 2 hours to eat at some small restaurant/hotel. I had this fish called corvina. It was the best ever. We then went for a boat ride in a volcanic crater. (The other picture is Tara, Chano, Jonny and his wife, and I here) The volcano is actually still active—air bubbles up from the ground—but the last eruption was over 100 years ago. (Ecuador, about the size of Nevada, has somewhere around 76 volcanoes) The place was so beautiful!! The entire country is breath taking. We stopped many times to enjoy the view and take pictures.
Today was our first day of classes. It was 8 full hours and we have lots of homework for tomorrow…

p.s. I´ve been feeling much better!