Hammerheads, Lion Bites, and Jellyfish Stings

The last day on the islands was rather extreme for me and therefore I felt it deserved a blog entry. We awoke at the break of dawn and boated for about an hour to a rock up-cropping that is famous for the large amount of sharks that hang out there. We went as early as we could since sharks are apparently most active in the morning. The group who went there the day before us had reported seeing around 150 hammerheads (I have know idea how they got this “estimate”) but either way it was daunting. I had been snorkeling with sharks several times previously, but I would usually run across them by accident and I had never knowingly jumped into shark-infested waters. When we arrived at our destination I immediately jumped in so I wouldn’t lose my nerve. Even though I was one of the first people in, I am pretty sure I was the last person to actually put my face in the water. For some reason not seeing what was below me made feel oddly better, even though they would bite me whether or not I was looking at them. Finally, after my 5-minute delay I got up enough guts to put my face in and I saw…..………nothing. Seriously, there was nothing there except a sea turtle and very dark/foreboding water. You would think this would make me feel better than being face-to-face with 100 sharks, but it wasn’t. The paranoia of knowing that they were out there but I couldn’t see them almost sent me into panic attack. I quickly snorkeled after my group and stuck very close to my friends for the rest of the snorkel. I also refused to dive down since I was just sure that they were waiting for me in the darkness below. In total we saw a few Galapagos sharks (which I had seen before so I was not scared of) and one hammerhead, which is not quite the same as 150. Despite all my fears, the most extreme/painful thing that happened to me all day was when I swam into a school of jellyfish and got stung all over my face.
I have failed at many things this trip. Not only did I fail to entice a botfly or be attacked attacked by a piranha or hammerhead, but I also failed to get bitten by a sea lion. After we were done snorkeling in the so-called “shark haven” we boated over to another island to swim with sea lions. Two people in my group ended up getting bitten, but once again not me. I am not sure when it is going be to my turn to gain such a wild and raw experience, but I am hoping it might happen for me at the farm. I am not exactly sure what will fulfill my dream for me at the farm, but I do know that I will be patiently awaiting the surprise attack.
What will I be doing for the next month on the farm?
I am not really sure but this is the response I got from the farm:
“A typical day begins before breakfast with a routine that could be harvesting, helping with breakfast or animal feeding (either horses & cows, pigs, guinea pigs or chickens) This changes each week so that you get experience in each area.
Mornings: everyone works in agriculture (unless you are helping at the school)
Afternoons: individual projects depending on your skills or the necessities of the farm.
Translation, sign making, construction, painting, preparation of info for the school, adopting a garden etc.”

While I am not positive what I will be doing, I know exactly what I WON’T be doing, and that is: sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. How do I know this? Probably because while the info packet I received from the farm was surprisingly scarce in details about what I will be doing, where I will be living etc. it managed to include this line about ten times:

ROMANTIC INVOLVEMENT WITH THE LOCALS, DRUGS AND ALCHOL CONSUMPTION ARE NOT PERMITTED AT THE FARM- IF YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THESE, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU !

So, I will not be doing those.

Anyway, I take off this coming Wednesday and I do not return until May 8th (I think). I don’t think I will have much email access so unfortunately you will have to survive without my blog for a whole month. When I return I have 3 days in Quito to present my internship to my professors and say goodbye to my friends and then it is off to explore South America. My tentative plan is to spend around 12 days travelling through Peru (hopefully seeing Machu Picchu) and eventually end in Chile. I fly back to the states on the 2nd of June and start work in Glacier on the 9th. What adventures lie ahead! Stay tuned for details and a description of the extreme attack which I will most certainly endure on the farm.

Also, I loaded a few pictures of the Galapgos : http://picasaweb.google.com/hannahmotl/Galapagos

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