Las Galapagos - Part 2

More on the animals of the Galapagos

With a baby sea lion.

During our first day on Isabela we took a boat out to go snorkeling. Within the first hour I saw an eagle ray, a parrot fish, a lobster, and several sea turtles. However, the sea lions were by far my favorite. At the end of our first snorkeling session my three friends and I encountered a young sea lion. He was very friendly and played with us underwater. He swam in circles around us and upside-down underneath us. When we dove down underwater he would swim directly at us and then dodge us at the last second. One of the most incredible moments was when he swam slowly up to my face so that our noses were almost touching and then did a little bark and swam away. I had never been so close to an animal in the wild or had such a person experience.

Next we rode the boats over to a marine iguana nesting area. We walked along a trail through volcanic rock and sand amongst hundreds of iguanas. They are perfectly camouflaged and as we were walking there were several moments when it seemed like an iguana appeared out of nowhere. These are the only iguanas in the world that can swim. They look like sea snakes when they swim and they sometimes sit partway in the water facing the sun to warm themselves. Our guide told us that these iguanas can swim for up to four hours!

The iguanas warming themselves in the sun. 

Iguanas in their nests. We were lucky we went during breeding season - in two weeks the iguanas won't be there anymore.

The next day we went to a tortoise breeding center that is working to repopulate the endangered species of Galapagos on the islands (there are 11 different species in the Galapagos!). Here we learned that Galapagos are not sexually mature until they are 25-35 year old and we got to see the tortoises at different stages of their lives.

Flamingos on the way to the center.

These galapagos are 8 years old!

An egg.

25 day old Galapago!

The tortoises below are part of a population that was almost wiped out when one of the volcanoes on Isabela erupted in the 1970’s. Helicopters were sent in to rescue the Galapagos and they were taken to the breeding center. The 20 tortoises that were taken to the center knew by instinct that they were the only ones of their species left and started reproducing like crazy (the females laid 5 times the amount of eggs in a year as they normally do) and now there are over 2,000 that have been released back into the wild. 

Wall of Tears

We went to visit an old prison on Isabela, built on a site that was originally a US army base during World War I. All that is left of the prison is some of the concrete foundations overgrown with plants, a water tower, and a huge stone wall. As a form of discipline, punishment, and a strategy to prevent an uprising, the directors of the prison had the prisoners construct a wall that would eventually surround the prison. 

While the wall was being built, part of it collapsed, and a stone fell on the foot of one of the directors. He was evacuated to the mainland in order to receive medical treatment, during which other officials found out about the construction of the wall and the terrible condition the prisoners were living in. The other officers had the construction of the wall stopped immediately. Many say that the conditions in this prison were as bad or worse then Alcatraz because of the humidity, heat, and absence fresh drinking water on the island. The prisoners never tried to escape because the rest of the island is desert and the other islands that have fresh water are miles away. There is still one prisoner alive today who lives in the Galapagos. He says he was imprisoned for stealing cows, but many people are skeptical as to whether this is the truth.

We hiked up on top of the hill above the wall where there was a gorgeous panoramic view of the island:

That night was the first night of Carnival, and it started off with a horse ride downtown:

Kids playing carnival with foam in the street.

              A kid waiting for the horses.                                                The winning horse!

Volcán Sierra Negra

The next we went on a 6 hour hike to and around Sierra Negra, the second largest active crater in the world. It started to rain just as were getting to the lava fields from the 1970 eruption that killed the Galapagos. We walked rest of the hike (four more hours) in pouring rain, which may have been lucky for us because normally the hike is blistering hot and without any tree cover. I’m not sure which one I would have preferred. Especially with the rain, it felt like the end of the world. 

Walking through the lava fields.

Playing Carnival

For three days and nights after the horse race, there was a constant party on the beach for Carnival. A stage was set up for dance competitions and a beautify pageant, a soccer field was constructed in the sand, and food and drink vendors lined the beach. One afternoon I went over with some friends before dinner just as the kid’s soccer competition was ending. They were about to start a women’s soccer game and were looking for teams of five to enter. 

In action on the field.

I had not played soccer since 6^th grade, but somehow my friend who plays for her university at home convinced me. An Ecuadorian girl overheard that we were trying to make a team and asked if she could join. However, we still needed one more player. We were asking every girl that walked past when all of a sudden a slightly drunk and slightly large woman who had been sitting on the sideline jumped up and said she would play with us. With this haphazardly put together team we won the first round and then won the final! 

A beautiful sunset on the beach that night.

Los Túneles

On our last full day on Isabela we took an hour boat ride out past Tortuga Island to see rocks that are in the formation of tunnels and bridges. We rode out with local fishermen and they expertly maneuvered their boats among the rocks. We also go to walk on top of these formations. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because of the beautiful arches and the close proximity of the cacti to the ocean. We also got to snorkel around and saw some penguins up close and a sting ray.

The stars

The stars in the Galapagos were another one of my favorite parts. On the last night I took a walk down the beach with some friends away from the hotels and the Carnival party and past a lighthouse to where it was completely dark. There weren’t any clouds that night and the Milky Way was incredibly clear as it stretched across the sky. The Galapagos is on the equatorial line and although I had gone to the monument marking the equator, looking at the starts was the first time I felt that I was at the middle of the world. I grew up looking at the Big Dipper in the night sky, and when I went to South Africa, I remember seeing the Southern Cross and really feeling like I was on a different part of the Earth. That night in the Galapagos when I looked out over the water I saw the Southern Cross on the horizon, when I looked straight up I saw Orion’s Belt, and when I looked the other way over the tree line of the island I saw the Big Dipper. This was one of the most incredible views I have ever seen in my life and I will never forget that moment of suddenly being in complete awe of the world around me. 

Long journey home

We woke up the next morning at 4:30 to go back home to Quito. The sunrise over the ocean during our two-hour boat ride back to Santa Cruz was absolutely stunning. On Santa Cruz we stopped to see Solitario George, which is pretty much obligatory if you go to the Galapagos, and the land iguanas. Solitario George is the last of his species of Galapago. They have tried to get him to mate with other species, but each time the eggs have been infertile.

Solitario George looking very lonely.

There are 11 species of Galapagos on the Galapagos Islands. There used to be 14 species, but 3 have gone extinct due to human and natural causes. Isabela Island has 5 species of Galapagos, one for each of its volcanoes. This happened because the species lived around the volcanoes and developed separately before the volcanoes combined to make one island.

This map is a little hard to see in this picture, but it shows the different species of tortoises on the islands.

The land iguanas are a beautiful yellow, but they are not as cool as the marine iguanas because they can’t swim and they can’t climb the cacti to eat the fruit – they wait below for the fruit to fall. However, several years ago a marine iguana and a land iguana mated and created a super iguana that could swim, climb cacti to eat the fruit, and is striped like a zebra. This super iguana is still too young to reproduce, so they still don’t know if it is able to.

The journey back to Quito was quite long because our plane out of the Galapagos was delayed and we were stuck in the extremely hot and humid airport for two hours. Then when we got to Guayaquil they closed the airport due to rain and we had to wait two more hours. However, it wasn’t too bad because somehow I got placed in first class! 

Las Galapagos - Part 1

Santa Cruz

The first island we visited was Santa Cruz, the most developed of the Galapagos Islands. After debarking the plane into humid 80 degrees ocean air, we met our guides Julio and Maximo who would be with us for the rest of the trip. We took a boat from the airport to Santa Cruz and as we pulled into the port we saw sea lions lounging on the docks and iguanas strolling down the street! 

Santa Cruz

A blue footed boobie!

As an introduction to the island they took us to two craters called “Los Gemelos” (the twins) and then on a short walk to Las Grietas, cliffs that enclose a protected swimming areas. Most of us jumped off the 40 foot cliff, but even after puenting I was still terrified to jump.

One of the craters. It is hard to tell from this picture how deep it is.

Jumping off the 40ft. cliff. 

During our second day on Santa Cruz we walked through an 800 meter long lava tunnel and went to a national park to observe giant tortoises (called Galapagos in Spanish) in their natural habitat. Outside the lava tunnel was a barbed wire fence with a Galapago on the other side. We asked Julio about it and he told us that the fence marked someone’s private property. The property laws in the Galapagos are such that if you build a fence you have to make the opening at the bottom high enough so that the Galapagos and other animals can crawl underneath. There have been problems with this law, especially from farmers who complain that the Galapagos eat their plants. However, Julio said that most people believe that this law is important because the Galapagos inhabited the islands before humans and therefore, it is necessary that we respect them and share the land with them. In the Galapagos it really feels like the people live with the animals.

An owl at the entrance of the cave.

Inside the lava tunnel. 

While walking through the park we heard a loud groaning noise, and our guide excitedly told us it was the sound the male Galapago makes while mating. We found the pair a few hundred meters away. “You guys are lucky,” Julio told us, “it is very rare to see Galapagos mating in the wild.” Galapagos mate for an average of two hours and the male spends pretty much all of that time trying to find the right position – this is a hard thing to do because they weigh so much and move very slowly. While we were watching the male had to take several breaks.

Some other cool facts about Galapagos: We don’t know how long they live because the Galapago that was the first recorded birth of the species is still alive! But it is estimated that they live to be around 150 year old. Galapagos don’t have sex chromosomes. Instead, the sex is determined by temperature during the egg stage.

While in the Galapagos I loved thinking about what it must have been like for Darwin and some of the first European explorers to come here. This is what Darwin had to say about the giant tortoises:

"I was always amused when overtaking one of these great monsters, as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead. I frequently got on their backs, and then giving a few raps on the hinder part of their shells, they would rise up and walk away;—but I found it very difficult to keep my balance." 

To my disappointment, we didn’t get to ride on the Galapagos like Darwin, but we did get to try on a shell!

The local coffee was delicious as well!

That afternoon we took a two-hour boat ride to Isabela Island, the largest of the Galapagos Islands. Tourism just started on Isabela about 10 years ago, so it is less developed. Despite it’s small population, it is known for the best Carnival party on the Galapagos (Carnival is the equivalent to Mardi Gras in the US). During the boat ride I sat on top with the captain and two other friends. One of the crewmembers of the boat also sat up top with us. He hesitantly asked us if we spoke Spanish, and when he found out that we did, he spent the rest of the two hours telling us all about the Galapagos and answering all of our questions. 

On the boat to Isabela.

One of the most interesting facts he told us was about the penguins. He explained that the penguins here are very similar to the penguins in New Zealand. The penguins in New Zealand are the smallest in the world and the ones in the Galapagos are only a few centimeters taller. He also told us about one year when El Niño made the water unusually warm and many of the penguins died. It was amazing how much he knew and a great introduction to the islands.

Los penguinos.

The view from my hotel room.

Part 2 coming soon! 

All Around Town

 Escape to the Farm

I spent Friday night on a farm where my friend volunteers. It is in a town called Yaruqui about an hour and a half bus ride from Quito. I took the bus by myself and was unsure of where the stop was, so I asked the money collector on the bus to tell me when we were at Yaruqui. On his way back from collecting money at the back of the bus he tapped me on the shoulder and told me that we were arriving in Yaruqui. So I got off at the next stop and asked him where I could find a taxi. He pointed to a hand written sign with some cars parked next to it. Although I was more than a little skeptical, I went over and talked to one of the drivers. I mentioned the area that the farm was in and the family’s name, but she had no idea what I was talking about. Then I asked what I should not have assumed in the first place: “Are we in Yaruqui?” Turns out the bus driver meant we had just passed Yaruqui. So I paid another 25 cents to take the bus 5 minutes back to Yaruqui where I found a line of more legitimate taxis.

Some of the cows

Porter the pig

That night we cooked some pasta and munched on Oreos while we sat out in the grass and watched the fog roll in over the valley and the twinkling of fireflies. It was so nice to be out of the polluted Quito air and away from the constant barking of dogs and car alarms. Sitting out there in the field felt like I had more space to think. 

Coffee and dogs in the morning

Wrangling a baby cow

Night tour

On Saturday night our program took a night tour of Quito, one of the activities in the city that is considered a “must-do” by many people. We met on the steps of the Cathedral in the Plaza Grande (if you remember from an earlier post, this is where the statue of the lion is) and encountered our guide inside. Our guide was in character as Ana Luisa Muñoz, a local woman who inspired the song “La Negra Mala.” She led us through the Cathedral and up to the roof by way of a winding staircase hidden in the wall. We had a spectacular view of the historical center at dusk.

View of the Panecilla

View of the Plaza Grande - the office of the President, Rafael Correa, is in the building on the left

Our next stop was the Convent of Agustín where a catholic brotherhood lived and that houses the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Convent is filled with paintings done by Miguel de Santiago. The legend is that when working on a painting of the crucifixion of Christ, he murdered his model in order to obtain a more realistic facial expression of agony. The legend continues that after this incident he fled to the convent of Agustín, where he was allowed to hide out in return for doing all the paintings for the building.

The fountain inside the convent

After the tour we got hot chocolate at one of the oldest cafes in Quito. I was very excited about this because I am on the hunt for the best hot chocolate in the world! 

South Quito

On Sunday morning we went to South Quito to learn about the most marginalized and most rapidly growing area of the city. We visited with members of a local community center and visited their community garden. Many of them had never had a genuine conversation with someone from the United States, and we found that in most cases we had more in common than we expected.

A view of South Quito

Walking through the community garden 

We drove past some cows, pigs, and rabbits kept in backyards - remnants of the country life that many people left behind in order to move to Quito. This area has been expanding so rapidly that the city hasn’t been able to build infrastructure at the same pace. In parts of South Quito there aren’t sewer systems or zoning laws, and some houses just recently got electricity.

Downtown Quito is in the distance, but you can't see it because of the thick smog.

A rare view of Cotopaxi! Normally it is hidden behind clouds.