Wednesday 18.01.2012

            In the morning we took a water taxi to Las Grietas, which is a place where fresh water mixes with salty ocean water. There was a place to jump off from the side and as more time passes, we realized there was still more to explore. This place was soo cool!!

           Then we went to Santa Fe to snorkel. This has been by far my favorite snorkel spot to date. We stopped at three different places. The first was along the coast where we were swimming with sea lions. Rene took two other girls and me to protected cove where we got to see two juvenile sea lions but after a while, we got chased off by a bull. They move so fast in the water and are a little intimidating. Needless to say we moved away as quickly as we could.

The second snorkel was in a bay that was filled with sea lions. We got to see a young sea lion arguing with his mother to go in the water and she kept blocking him. Eventually he ended up going in the water and then quickly got out once he realized how cold it was. Both his mom and dad seemed to lecture him with grunts as he climbed back up the rocks he was on before.

For the last snorkel, we went into a cave along the coast. There were waves that were breaking that would sweep us farther in and then out of the cave. All of the places around Sante Fe that we snorkeled were absolutely fantastic! To top it all off, on our way back to Santa Cruz we saw jumping Manta rays!! At first I had no idea what was jumping out of the water, but once a few other people saw them too, we decided they were Manta rays that were flinging their entire bodies out of the water.

We finished this spectacular day at the only pizza place in Puerto Ayora and with delicious gelato :D

Las Grietas!

people jumping :)

group shot after swimming

marine iguana just chilling on the dock we walked past

young sea lions playing on the rocks

male sea lion circling and defending his family

large parrotfish swimming. i have never seen so many parrotfish that are sooo big!

group photo outside of cave by Santa Fe

Tuesday 17.01.2012

We got to the Quito airport very early for our flight to Baltra and those hours that we had in the airport were completely filled with confusion; no one knew what was going on for most of it. We made it to our gate with only 15 minutes to spare, though we had arrived more than 2.5 hours before our plane was to leave.

We arrived in Baltra and I am taken aback by how subtle the heat was but the intensity of the sun’s rays was evident and the air was dry. Mostly tourists fill the line as we wait to go through customs. Everyone gets his or her bags and we prepare for our snorkeling trip. As we are rearranging our gear, we discover that the airport is closing because a bomb from WWII has been discovered and the bomb is going to be disposed of by blowing it up on Baltra. It is surprising how quickly action is taken though it seems this bomb has only just been found and also by the method. It seems like a bunch of old kids having some fun with explosives; the island attitude, we have truly arrived.

The snorkel trip was fantastic. The first place we went we saw white tipped sharks, many sea lions, and giant parrotfish. At the second site, there was a strong current that prevented us from getting to where Rene, our guide, intends us to go. The water was so turbid that we could not actually see anything, though some people say that they saw manta rays swimming deep in the water. After a few minutes of everyone struggling to stay in the same spot, the boat came over and picked all of us up. It has been a long day and the rolling of the sea finally started to get to me.

We arrived in Puerto Ayora dripping from our snorkel excursion but filled with anticipation for exploring a new place. We arrived at Hotel Verde Azul and prepare for dinner. We walked to Galapagos People Inc. where we meet up with Rene, a friend of Sarah who is our guide for the orientation days, who is going to take us to the local dinner spot.

We were sitting at tables in the middle of a blocked off road, with restaurants on either side. There were a couple of dogs wandering around looking for handouts but they mostly move from table to table without success. We remained sitting for a while after everyone has finished eating, talking and just taking in the beauty and foreignness of this new place. We began to walk back but get sidetracked along a boardwalk over the bay. The sky is clear and beautiful. Looking out beyond the bay is complete darkness. It is strange being surrounded by quiet and darkness after living in Miami for so long.

Monday 16.01.2012

The adventure begins! I left the JAX airport and in MIA. Unfortunately our flight to Quito was delayed after we had already boarded, so we had to de-plane and the gate changed.

We arrived in Quito a couple of hours later than we were supposed to but everyone was so excited about finally getting here. The delay did little to lessen our anticipation of finally beginning our semester long adventure. Going through customs was not complicated but afterward I was hit by how out of place I was. People all around me were speaking a language that I do not understand and I was not sure where I was supposed to go. I felt like a Mojarra surrounded by a school of Jacks, who have obviously different behaviors and ways to communicate with one another. I had been anticipating a different atmosphere but I was not prepared for how foreign it would be for me.

We arrived at Casa del Sol, a cute little hostel in Quito where we met up with the professor of our first class, Dr. Sarah Meltzoff, who would also be with us during our couple of days of orientation. Sarah briefed us on the next day travel to the Baltra airport in the Galapagos and we checked into our rooms.

sunset picture taken en route to Quito

Amanda and me in our room at Casa del Sol

lobby of Casa del Sol. pretty, right?!

Beginnings

Hey everyone! My fifth week in the Galapagos is fast approaching and I have so much of what I have been doing to update all of you on. Great snorkeling trips, camping up in the highlands of Santa Cruz, a tour around a finca in the highlands of Isabela and of course encounters with the emblematic animals that everyone thinks of when they think of the Galapagos.

But more importantly, I want to show you guys a glimpse of the culture and the people of the Galapagos. The Galapagos is definitely not as isolated as I once thought. Families have lived for generations here and there is a rich sense of belonging and community here is Puerto Villamil.

I am living with a family (you will hear more about them later) in Puerto Villamil. This is only community that occupies Isla Isabela, which is the largest island within the Galapagos and it is the most recently formed with 5 volcanos. This program is called UGalapagos. The University of Miami works with a non-profit organization called the Isabela Oceanographic Institute, IOI, which works with the community of Puerto Villamil to create sustainable practices, teach English in local schools, and to bring students, through UM, to a new place where they take classes and live with host families.

Here are a couple of maps that should help with knowing exactly where the Galapagos are and where I am within them.

I am going to start from the beginning and hopefully I will catch up with as soon as I can :)