Galapagos
Day 0 (12/31/17)
The day had finally arrived. After months of anticipation, it was finally time to say goodbye to NJ and begin our 16 day journey to Ecuador. First, however, we had to get to New York. My dad drove us up to the JFK Hilton, and we waited around for a couple hours until everyone else arrived; Tait was delayed, and therefore so was our pre-departure meeting. We started at 8:30 with Haley's and my presentation on seismic and volcanic activity. As the clock ticked on, people were getting restless. Not only did they have to sit through a geology lecture, they had to do it on an empty stomach! In the typical Stockton fashion, something had already gone wrong- the pizza order was delayed for over 2 hours. By the time we finished our presentation, the pizza still hadn't arrived, so Lester gave his bird presentation a few days early to occupy our time.
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Giving our presentation on seismic activity.
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Eventually, more pizza than we could ever eat arrived, and we took a break from learning about birds to fill ourselves with the last "good" pizza we'd have for the next two weeks. By the time the meeting was over, it was almost midnight. We rushed back to our room to turn on the TV and look out the window for the fireworks, and got there just in time. At that point, we only had about 2.5 hours before our airport shuttle would arrive on New Year's Day. After adding a few videos to our snapchat stories and spending some time watching the fireworks, we went to sleep.
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The view of the NYC skyline from my room at the JFK Hilton.
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Day 1 (1/1/18)
It felt wrong to leave our beds only 2 hours after climbing into them; but, our shuttle for the airport left at 2:30, so we didn't have much of a choice. Our shuttle was late (what a surprise), but eventually we arrived at JFK and checked in for our flight. Security was pretty painless, and less than an hour later we were sitting at our gate watching a TV show about bears in Alaska. We boarded our plane at around 6, and were scheduled for a 6:35 takeoff. However, that time soon came and passed, all without moving from the gate. Another half hour passed, and we still hadn't moved an inch. Eventually, we were given an update through the intercom: the cargo loader had frozen. I'm not sure why the luggage couldn't be loaded manually, but after another 2 and a half hours we were finally able to take off.
Apart from the delay, it was a fantastic flight. As someone who is used to flying Spirit, the level of service and quality of the flying experience blew me away. Avianca gave us blankets, pillows, headphones (for the entertainment center mounted on each seat), achiras (a type of cheesy snack), an empanada with ham, raspberry yogurt, a roll, and (later on) a turkey and cheese sandwich. During our first flight to Bogota, I was able to watch The Wolverine and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., play Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and get some much needed sleep.
Apart from the delay, it was a fantastic flight. As someone who is used to flying Spirit, the level of service and quality of the flying experience blew me away. Avianca gave us blankets, pillows, headphones (for the entertainment center mounted on each seat), achiras (a type of cheesy snack), an empanada with ham, raspberry yogurt, a roll, and (later on) a turkey and cheese sandwich. During our first flight to Bogota, I was able to watch The Wolverine and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., play Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and get some much needed sleep.
Due to our delay, we expected to have missed our connecting flight from Bogota to Guayaquil. We tried to rush to the gate, but got held up at the Colombian customs. It was really quite scary being yelled at in Spanish by the Colombian version of the TSA... we had to throw out food and chug our water (I drank a whole liter in ~30 seconds), but eventually we made it through. After our ordeal with customs, we discovered that we didn't miss our connecting flight- it had been delayed over 5 hours. After a fairly painless wait at the El Dorado airport in Bogota, we boarded our second flight of the day.
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Kinder eggs aren't banned in Colombia!
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This flight was only an hour and a half, but Avianca yet again proved their superiority to Spirit by giving us a complimentary drink, chicken sandwich, and plantain chips. After landing, going through immigration, and picking up our bags, we met our guide Diego who would be with us for the rest of our trip. He picked us up in a unique little bus, and before long we checked into the Continental Hotel in Guayaquil, where they gave us a fresh glass of juice as we walked in the door. After settling into our rooms for a few minutes, we met outside the hotel's lounge to discuss our itinerary for the next two weeks and become more acquainted with Diego.
After our itinerary meeting, a small group of us headed down for dinner at the hotel's 24 hour restaurant. Although it took some effort to order in Spanish, we eventually succeeded and ordered our food; I got steak and eggs, Hunter ordered goat stew, Victoria got plantains (and that's where my memory of who got what ends). We all shared and tried each other's food, and I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed everything there. After dinner, we took a brief look at the Iguana Park across the street with our flashlights, and then headed up to our rooms. We survived Day 1!
Day 2 (1/2/18)
Our first full day in Ecuador began at 5:30 AM; we ate a buffet-style breakfast at 6 in the hotel restaurant (my meal consisted of pancakes, bacon, a cinnamon roll, and passion fruit juice) before departing in taxis to the Guayaquil airport. Because the Galapagos have such potential for invasive species contamination, we had to queue at a special Galapagos check-in before getting our regular boarding passes. They screened our bags, had us empty our pockets, and asked if we were carrying food, animals, and the like; we then had to pay $20 for a certificate that allowed us to board a plane to/from the islands.
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Landing at the airport on Baltra. Straight onto the (very windy) tarmac!
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A blue-footed booby we spotted on our ride to Santa Cruz!
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Avianca proved their superiority yet again by giving us lunch on our 1.5 hour flight to the Baltra airport. A few minutes before landing, our flight attendants sprayed herbicide/pesticide in the overhead compartment; again, this was necessary to prevent the introduction of non-native species. In addition, we were shown a video produced by the Galapagos National Park detailing the rules of the park (stay x number of meters away from certain animals, etc.). It was very clear that rules regarding wildlife and taking things in/out of the islands were taken seriously, which I believe is fortunate considering the islands' significance. After landing, we took a very crowded bus to a small ferry, which brought us to Santa Cruz.
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When we got on our chartered bus on Santa Cruz, Diego went over what he considered the most important rules of the islands: stay two meters away from wildlife, don't leave behind any trash, and be careful with bug spray. I have to admit, I didn't expect his third rule. Although I can't find any sources to give credit to his claim, Diego told us that excess DEET usage by tourists had led to the decline of a subspecies of vermilion flycatcher, similar to how DDT threatened birds of prey not so long ago in the US.
Before checking into our hotel in Puerto Ayora, we visited Los Gemelos (the twins) and Reserva El Chato (a tortoise reservation). Los Gemelos are two large holes in the ground, formed as a result of an ancient magma tube collapse (see pre-trip readings for more info on the geology of the Galapagos). El Chato gave us our first chance to experience the famous Galapagos tortoises up close; we walked around the grounds and observed tortoises eating, drinking, relaxing- and yes, mating. In addition to the tortoises, El Chato also gave us an up-close look at Santa Cruz's network of lava tubes and several species of finches (see pre-trip readings for more info).
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Two Galapagos tortoises at El Chato who should've gotten a room.
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The most surprising thing about the Galapagos (to me) was the vast extent of its desert. As we drove from El Chato down towards the coastal city of Puerto Ayora, it was very easy to see where the ecological zones changed from humid to transitional to arid, etc. It was also very easy to see where the national park ended and the inhabited area began- there were cows and cleared areas everywhere, starting just outside the park's borders. As we got closer to town, the split between rich and poor became obvious as well; what really stood out to me were these massive compounds with 10-12 ft. cinder-block walls built directly next to crumbling hovels. It was quite depressing to see that despite the rich natural beauty of the islands and the literal boatloads of wealthy tourists there to see it, not all of the islands' human inhabitants were very well-off. This would unfortunately only become more clear as our stay in the Galapagos continued.
Posing with a marine iguana, my favorite animal of the trip.
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However, knowing that we were being financially and socially responsible with our choices of hotels and guides, I felt better about our visit as we continued to Puerto Ayora. After a lengthy check-in, we ate lunch (fish soup, pork, rice, yucca, cabbage) at the Hotel Palmera and continued exploring Santa Cruz. We took a water taxi across the main inlet and saw sea salt collection pools, marine iguanas, and sea lions, as well as Las Grietas. Las Grietas (the crevices) are a series of crevices in which fresh water from the island's interior mixes with the salt water of the Pacific (Galapagos Conservancy, 2018). There, we swam- and the braver ones among us (myself not included) cliff dived. After the short walk back to the dock, we took another water taxi to the main pier and went back to our hotel for dinner (fried chicken). Our busy day concluded with Becky and Lori's presentation on Galapagos and Amazonian biodiversity; Day 2 was over!
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Day 3 (1/3/18)
Pumpkin soup minus the popcorn.
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Day 3 began with a few hours of free time, so a small group of us woke up at 6:30 to go back to the Las Grietas side of the inlet. After exploring for a while and seeing some wildlife, we headed back to the hotel for Elana, Abby, and Angelique's presentation on tourism, in which we learned some additional information about sites we'd be visiting later on. After their presentation, we checked out of our hotel and ate lunch at the dock (pumpkin soup, spaghetti bolognese), where we were introduced to the practice of adding popcorn to soup. It was almost like adding crackers or croutons, but somewhat lighter and more soggy.
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Following our lunch, we took a water taxi to the Neptune 3, our hired speedboat which would take us to Isabela Island. The trip took 2 hours, and we had quite a bumpy ride. The highlights included spotting several dolphins jumping out of the water and struggling to use the head. When we got to Isabella, we were greeted by a few young sea lions on the beach and some marine iguanas on the path to/from the pier. We met our local guide, Paula, upon stepping off the boat, and she got us a bus to take to Hotel Cally, where we'd be staying the next couple days.
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Looking back at Santa Cruz from the Neptune 3.
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Flamingos in the artificial lagoon.
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After checking into our hotel, we took a short walk to a bike rental shop and rode bikes to an old water-filled quarry. The pit was home to a small flamingo population which fed on brine shrimp living in the brackish water; unfortunately, the flamingo population is not expected to survive (according to Paula, our guide) due to a lack of management. Many of us found it quite odd that some species were managed so heavily (like the tortoises), and yet the flamingos are paid little to no attention. We believe this sad reality is a result of tourism; people come to the Galapagos to see tortoises, iguanas, finches, and penguins- not flamingos. As a result, the flamingo population doesn't receive the same attention as the other big-name species.
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While we were watching the flamingos, Paula also pointed out Isabela's desalination plant. One of the plant's membranes had been broken for over a month at the time of our visit, and as a result all the tap/shower water was still partially salty. The Ecuadorian national government was supposed to pay the $25,000 for a new membrane, but still hadn't done so; it was disheartening to see that in spite of the care the national government seemed to have for the Galapagos wildlife, they lacked that same care for the human population.
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Our first dinner on Isabela. Not pictured are the horribly photoshopped pictures of penguins riding tortoises plastered on the restaurant walls.
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We returned the bikes; as it was getting dark, we went down to the beach to observe some marine iguanas and crabs, and take our first official swim in the Pacific Ocean. Afterwards, we went to dinner (carrot soup, chicken, rice and beans, salad, lemon cake), looked around a few tourist shops, and had microwaved frozen milkshakes (yes, really). Day 3 ended with a short walk back to the hotel, which was made a little more exciting by a friendly stray dog that we petted along the way.
Day 4 (1/4/18)
The large male enjoying a free cleaning from a finch.
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A small group of us began day 4 at 7:30 so we could head down to the beach before leaving to "go make snorkel", as Diego put it. When we got to the rocky coast, we saw lots of marine iguanas and crabs, including a particularly massive male which was being cleaned by a finch. We saw another decent-sized male down in the water eating algae off the rocks, the only time we actually saw an iguana eating anything.
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After watching the iguanas for a while, it was time to go back to the hotel to join the rest of the group before snorkeling. Once everyone was ready, we went down to the pier and got in the boat which would be taking us to Tintoreras (where we would snorkel, visit a sea lion breeding ground, and hopefully spot some penguins). We started with snorkeling, and jumped from the boat to a small rocky island from which we would enter the inlet. As we walked to the other side of the island, it was hard not to notice how low the tide was, and how dozens of sea urchins were poking out of the water. As soon as I got in the water and started swimming, I felt a sharp pain in my left hand and saw blood running down my arm... not a good sign.
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The only picture I got before my snorkeling mishap.
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Don't feel like you have to click, but this is what it looks like to be stabbed by sea urchins.
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I had been stabbed about 40 times in my left hand and arm by sea urchins, and the tips of their spines were stuck in my skin. I carefully turned around and exited the water (praying I wouldn't run into any other sea urchins) to show Tait my injury. Ultimately, it was decided that I had to go to the "hospital" (a tiny building with a pharmacy attached that provided medical services to the entire island) to have the spines removed. Tait and I returned to Puerto Villamil and took a cab to our hotel to grab our passports before heading to the dispensario ("hospital"), where we quickly learned that no one spoke English.
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After showing my hand to the woman at the front desk and saying "sea urchin", I was sent around to a few different places before ending up in a room with a doctor using a tiny needle to scrape each individual spine out (which was quite painful). Eventually, after they were out, they measured my height, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate, and prescribed me antibiotic, antihistamine, and anti-inflammatory pills that I'd have to take at varying times over the next week. Thankfully, the whole ordeal was over after only around 2 hours. However, my hand was sore and useless for about the next week. After picking up my medicine from the pharmacy down the hall, Tait and I went back to our hotel to wait for the rest of our group to return.
A view from inside the partially collapsed lava tube.
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Next on our itinerary was a hike at Sierra Negra, a large shield volcano which formed the majority of southern Isabela, also home to the second-largest caldera in the world (see pre-trip readings for more info). Unfortunately, it was too foggy there for a hike; visibility was near 0. Instead, we explored more lava tubes and visited a tortoise breeding center before ending our day at a lookout tower, where a single mango tree stood out among all the rest of the vegetation.
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Upon visiting the tortoise breeding center, many of us were again struck by the contradictions surrounding wildlife management in the Galapagos. Although we were originally told that wildlife wasn't being managed at all (and therefore the flamingos were going to die out), the tortoise breeding center disproved that narrative. There, they raised hundreds of tortoises endemic to Isabela, so that they could eventually be re-introduced into areas where they had been lost (due to goats, habitat loss, etc.). Seeing the breeding center re-affirmed the idea that many of us had come to suspect: only the big-name species were being managed. To me, this seemed morally wrong, yet from a financial/tourism perspective I suppose it makes sense.
Day 4 was quite the day. I had the unfortunate pleasure of having the first serious injury of the trip, but overall I would still rate it a good day. The rest of the group had fun snorkeling and got to see an adorable baby sea lion, but wasn't able to get a good look at any penguins. Missing out on that simply means I'll have to go back and do it again.
Day 5 (1/5/18)
Day 5 began early; we had to leave Hotel Cally at 5:15 to take the Neptune 3 back to Santa Cruz. This time we shared the boat-ride with some other tourists and guides, who all got to witness seasick Abby throw up a few times. When we arrived in Puerto Ayora, we checked back into Hotel Palmera, changed, and took a long walk to Tortuga Bay.
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A view on the way to Tortuga Bay.
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A finch resting on a mangrove branch near Tortuga Bay.
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Tortuga Bay is home to sea turtles (hence the name), sea lions, marine iguanas, white-tipped reef sharks, and countless fish. We spent a few hours enjoying the crystal-clear water and letting the sharks come investigate us before heading back up to the beach and looking at some of the Darwin's finches. Because the walk back to the hotel would take almost an hour, Tait decided to charter a boat to bring us back to the main pier. On the ride back, we saw a few marine iguanas swimming (the farthest out we'd seen them) and a large number of Nazca boobies, the lesser-known relatives of the famous blue-footed boobies. |
Eventually, we got back to the hotel and ate lunch (ceviche, which to me smelled like someone dumped their seafood scraps in a vat and let it sit for a month). We then took a short 20 minute walk to the Charles Darwin Research Station; I was so excited to see the research station, as I had heard so much about the political power it held in the archipelago and the work done there with Lonesome George (trying to bring back his species). I'm not sure quite what I was imagining it to be, but I was really quite disappointed by what I saw. There were hundreds of tortoises in corrals, organized by age/size; I was expecting something along the lines of the El Chato reserve, with open space and freedom- not another cramped breeding facility, which was yet another contradiction of the supposed "non-management" of wildlife. In fact, they were even the sex ratio of their tortoises by controlling the eggs' incubation temperature. |
A marine iguana walking on the beach near Tortuga Bay.
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Me and Haley at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
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After seeing a dozen or so corrals, we entered a guarded, air-conditioned building containing the taxidermied remains of Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise. It was both fascinating and disturbing to see him, in a way that's hard to put into words. After exiting that building, we entered a small museum showcasing the physical geography, animals, and plant-life of the Galapagos, including a display of plant regeneration management (yet another contradiction of their claim of no management). I've now learned more about the Charles Darwin Foundation's many projects, including their efforts to control the introduced Philornis downsi, a parasitic fly considered to be the leading factor in land-bird species decline in the islands. The fly lays its eggs in bird nests; the larvae then feed on the blood of the hatchlings (Charles Darwin Foundation, 2018). The foundation focuses on three overarching research areas: conservation of ecosystems, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable development & human well-being; the fly project falls under this last category. |
On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at a few stores, including a chocolate shop where an excellent salesman convinced us to try a few different types of flavored chocolate turtles (passion fruit, chile, sea salt). In an attempt to avoid eating more rancid seafood scraps for dinner, a small group of us decided to forgo dinner at the hotel and instead visit a restaurant down the street for pizza.
This was our last full day in the Galapagos. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and definitely something to check off my childhood bucket-list. I'd wanted to visit the Galapagos since the first time I'd seen it in National Geographic and watched videos of it on Animal Planet, and my time there was coming to an end. We learned so much about not only the wildlife, but the people who live there and the struggles they face. I'm not sure exactly when, but I'll definitely be back to the Galapagos to continue to learn more.
Please click the albums below to view all of my Galapagos pictures in full resolution on Flickr.
References:
Galapagos Conservancy. (n.d.). Galapagos Conservancy Blog. Retrieved February, 2018.
Research. (n.d.). Charles Darwin Foundation. Retrieved March 2018.
Galapagos Conservancy. (n.d.). Galapagos Conservancy Blog. Retrieved February, 2018.
Research. (n.d.). Charles Darwin Foundation. Retrieved March 2018.