Isla Santa Crúz y Otra lugares

Bartolome Beach

So for our “spring break” we were sent to Santa Crúz Island for four days and then a boat cruise for an additional four days. While in Santa Crúz we spent the mornings going on small day trips around the Island. Our first one was up into the highlands where we visited the Giant Tortoises and hiked through the lava tunnels. The lava tunnels were Amazing due to the fact that it gets a lot cooler once you travel underground. Another day trip we went on was to Tortuga Bay, a long Beach with powder sand and mangroves. Here we played frisbee and snorkled with sharks amungst the mangroves. During our afternoons we would visit the Charles Darwin Station where we sat in on lectures concerning the marine biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands. Often in the afternoons we would have even more time available to spend so one day we went to a place called Las Grietas where they have a 15 meter cliff to jump off into a pool of water. The colors were Amazing in this place, especially the blue-green water and the red stone cliffs.

Our Boat tour started in Santa Crúz and traveled to a few surrounding islands which included Rhabida, Bartolome, China hat, and North Seymore. Rhabida was a nice red sanded Beach area with a small hike where we saw a few Galapagos Hawks. Bartolome had a hike to the top of a hill where we were able to view the surrounding parasitic volcanoes and one of the famous Galapagos vistas. China Hat island had an interesting shape which helped relate it to its name. Here the marine life was great to observe, we caught some views of penguins and I was finally able to observe a swimming marine iguana. Following him, I watched as he clung to the rocks underwater and feasted on the Algae bed. North Seymore was one of my favorite islands visited because of the Galapagos avifauna. There were Blue-Footed Boobies, Frigate Birds, Swallow-Tailed Gulls, and some small Doves that had Blue eyes and red feet. The coolest part was that we Landed on the island around 6am so we beat the crowds and were able to view most of the courtship rituals and mating calls. When I say “beat the crowds” I’m refering to the Copious amounts of tourist groups that travel these tourist hotspot areas. It wasn’t until this trip that I witnessed the extent tourisim in the Galapagos. As I mentioned in a previous update, tourism is one of the main economic means for island inhabitants, and since Ecuador is a rather poor country, control and management of the park is a bit shady. The night son the boat were great becuase we were able to take lounge chairs to the top and watch the stars. Our tour guide, who was a fountain of information, surprised us with her complete knowledge of the night sky. She had a GPS star pointer which would tell you the names of constelations, she also had a $70 green laser to point at the stars. Very fun.

Last night was the final political rally before Ecuadorian elections so there were several large rallies throughout the town. At one of the rallies my host father organized a way for my house mate Patrick to play a short acoustic set on stage. The whole town was out that night so there were hundreds of folks there. He played a song in english with a girl from our program and everyone seemed to like it. All of the GAIAS students were ther in full support. Its been really fun becoming a temporary part of this island community.

China Hat Island

A Visitor

Beach In Puerto Villamil

This Past week I had Molly visit me during her spring break. She is currently studying abroad on mainland Ecuador in Quito. She arrived in San Cristobal on the 29th of March and left yesterday. During her stay in the Galapagos I attempted to show her the sights, which struck me as the most amazing; this included a trip to Isabela and Santa Cruz islands to see penguins, flamingos, giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and sea lions. We were able to swim with the sea lions on multiple occasions which is always fun because the younger ones are so playful. Although Molly did get a bit sick from a combination of the altitude change and the water, we managed to have an amazing time together. It was nice to share this experience with someone I know from back home.