Galapagos Summary

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Saludos,

So its been a while since i've updated anything. The last few weeks we have been in the Galapagos and the internet access was very limited so I haven't been able to get on here to write. The last few weeks have been absolutely incredible. There really aren't words to describe the experience.
We started the trip in Santa Cruz but we had a week of tours and essentially we island hopped for the first week. We saw Santa Cruz, Seymour, Isabela, Fernandina, and finally San Cristobal. During the tours, we snorkled a lot and got to swim with so many different animals including sea lions, sea turtles, and galapagos sharks. Personally I didn't see a shark but that was a personal choice because I think I would have had a heart attack in the water if I saw a shark close up. but everyone in my group said it was awesome. Two of the kids in the group went scuba diving one day and one girl saw a hammerhead shark too. We also hiked around some volcanoes which was my favorite part and one of my least favorite parts of the tour. It was my favorite because it was really cool to see the volcanoes and the lava flows and the ways the eruptions have altered the landscape. Typically geology nerd stuff. but it was my least favorite because the day we went, it rained for the whole 6 hours that we were hiking, and it was cold and muddy, and generally miserable. The worst day by far, though, was the trip to San Cristobal. We were on a small boat for the trip, which was supposed to take about 4 hours including a break for lunch and snorkling, but it ended up taking 10 hours because their was a problem with the fuel and then we had to wait for them to bring us more. We basically were stranded in the ocean, with 20 people on a relatively small boat, for multiple hours. To make matters worse, a few people were getting sea sick or had stomach problems. Luckily, I don't get sea sick and actually enjoy the rocking motion of a boat so it could have been worse but everyone else was really miserable.

Once we got to San Cristobal, we started taking our class. We had a two week class on public policy regarding the galapagos and the management of the national park/marine reserve. It ended up being a ridiculously hard class because it was so short. Our professor literally squeezed a 4 month semester into 2 weeks, including 2 exams and a 10 page paper. Other than the work kind of putting a damper on our fun, the class was pretty cool. we learned a lot about the interactions between the conservationists, tourism, and fisherman and got a better idea of the complicated situation in which the islands are stuck.

Now we're back in Quito and we only have 2 more days in Ecuador. I can't believe how quickly this trip has gone. I definitely didn't want to leave the Galapagos and I really don't want to leave Ecuador.
See you all soon. Back in the States on Weds.. 😞

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Photos

Mis padres
My host parents in San Cristobal. Grace and Eric

Our boat got swarmed
Frigate birds swarmed our boat