Day 14 - Fundar Galapagos

Today was our service day, where we worked at Fundar Galapagos most of the day. We ate breakfast there, then put on rain boots, received work gloves and planting tools, then hiked down to the greenhouse located at another region of their property. Their main mission, so we heard from a couple of volunteers, is to help with planting trees the repopulate areas that were subjected to deforestation, to help local farmers with organic methods of farming, and removing invasive species of plants from the local region. Everything they do is for conservation of the area of Santa Cruz.

Our jobs today were to help out in the greenhouse.  Their local farmer had to leave, so it was basically in desperate need of some weeding, picking the ripe tomatoes (that were used for our lunch), watering and removing the dead leaves. That was in one greenhouse. In the next greenhouse, we weeded some more, used a hoe to loosen some soil, then pulled radishes (that were used for our lunch). We also picked ripe eggplant and weeded a walking path for others to use. We did all of this in about 2 and a half hours. We were very hungry for our lunch and very wet from the rain!

After about an hour break, and waiting for the heavy rain to stop, we went back down the path to an area to plant some bamboo trees. We planted 128 trees in about 30 min! That is what I call team work! We went so fast because there were fire ants in every hole that we dug, and were all getting bitten many times.  

After this, we walked back to the information center, washed up, returned our boots, and got ready to leave. We will return again tomorrow to remove invasive plants with a machete. Many students got very excited about this (which is a little scary to me...)!

After our service time, we came back to the hotel for several hours of free time before supper. Some walked around town, others hung around to relax, some did some shopping.  I think most, though, took a shower and changed out of the nasty clothes from working in the mud!  Tomorrow, we pack up our things and head to our ship after our service time - Yeah!!  I am not sure when I will have internet again (or as one of the guys at the lodge at the coast called it - wee fee), but I will try from the ship!

Day 13 - Galapagos Islands!

We made it to the Galapagos Islands!!!

We have a new guide for today, her name is Pricilla, and she was very knowledgeable of the islands (and our bus was MUCH smaller!)

Currently, we are on Santa Cruz Island. On the way back from the airport (we had a 1 hour 40 min flight from Guayaquil into Balta Island, then took a ferry to Santa Cruz), we saw twin magma chambers that caved in about 600,000 years ago. We then went to a ranch called Rancho el Manzanillo, where they have a real cattle ranch, but since the tortoises have free range on the entire island, they roam all around the ranch. We walked in the rain on some paths to see the tortuga (tortoise in Spanish), then ate lunch at the restaurant on the Ranch.

After lunch, we drove to the Hotel Red Booby to check in. We got our rooms, then walked to the Charles Darwin Research Station about 20 minutes away. We learned about the tortoises - there are 10 different species living on the islands, when there used to be 14. I got the number of a research scientist at the Station, so hopefully I will be able to contact her about setting up a time we can actually see the research labs while we are on this island.  We saw land iguanas, native and endemic plants, many saddle--back and dome carapaces on different species of tortoises, as well as the breeding program. 

 At this point, our guide left us for the remainder of the day (at around 4:00). Supper was at 7:00 (we are now 2 hours behind EST, like "Mountain time" in the US). Some sat at the hotel to relax, others went for some walks to do some souvenir shopping and get snacks. Others tried to find and ATM machine that would take their card (and yes - they were all successful!)  We met back at the Hotel Red Booby to have supper, which was ready early. Not much else going on today, but tomorrow we need to be ready to go at 7:00am. Wow - that is early, but we are being picked up by the a local environmental agency (Fundar) to help with a local service project.

Day 12 - Travel day to Guayaquil

We spent a lot of time on the bus again today, but it was a good day overall. We left the Pacific Coast around 8:30, and drove about 3 and a half hours to our "swanky" hotel in Guayaquil (Oro Verde). We could not check in yet, so we left our luggage here and were off in the bus to get to lunch. We ate at a place called Lo Nuestro. We had a fancy lunch and even had cold drinks! We have not had any ice on this entire trip!

After lunch, we got back on the bus to drive to Old town Guayaquil, to a place called Las Penas. This is where the old city of Guayaquil was founded. We climbed up 485 stairs on Santa Ana Hill, to the top of a lighthouse where we could overlook the city from there.
 Picture of our group at the top of the lighthouse:

 Picture of Santa Ana Hill from closer to the river (to show how high we climbed!):

We walked along the Guayas River for some time, walking past a playground, city shops, vendors, and a boardwalk area. We also walked to a town square in front of a fancy church. We were completely surprised to see land iguanas walking all over the square! What a shock, but cool, too.

We were on our own in the hotel tonight, so we split up to do different things. Some ordered pizza, others had room service, others went to one of the hotel restaurants. We need our rest, since we have to be in the hotel lobby ready to go to the airport at 6:45am. Our flight to the Galapagos Islands leaves at 8:40, so we need to be on time. :)

Day 11 - Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver)

Today was another fun day, but let me start by saying, "No whales." :(  We sort of saw them - Dr. Campbell saw a big splash as one crashed back to the ocean, and we saw 2 blow hole fumes. But no whale. Maybe in the Galapagos Islands.

We started our tour at about 8:00, driving to Puerto Lopez and boarded a boat to take us to the island. We could only fit 16 passengers in the boat, so Dr. Campbell and our driver Dinelo had to ride in a separate boat with other visitors, and we were separated the entire day. The ride took about 1 hour 20 min (about 45 km) to reach the island and we had a wet landing to get off the boat.  We hiked up the "blue" trail, after climbing about 170 steps to where the trails split off.

 Students giving the "Goya" stare...

This was the first time students saw blue footed boobies and frigate birds. Quite beautiful, especially when you can see them up close. A blue-footed booby turning his head to watch us..

 Frigate birds: female on the left, male on the right, puffing out his red chest. The female chooses the one she thinks has the best red chest.

We walked around for over an hour, up and down the slopes of the cliffs, then back down to the boat docking site. We climbed back on the boat and saw some green sea turtles hanging around the boat - awesome!

We then had a small lunch of sandwiches, watermelon and Coke, and drove to the other side of the island to snorkel. Most people jumped, and everyone who did got stung by jelly fish. Only 3 students were left out snorkeling - Taylor, Evan and Logan. The rest of us stayed on the boat, away from the jellyfish, and got to climb to the top to watch for whales (and again, we did not see any).

Once we were all back on the boat, we rode back to town, did a little shopping as we waited for the second boat to return to shore, then came back to the hotel. Some went swimming in the pool, hanging out in the lodge, etc. Dinner was at 7:00, and we had hamburgers and french fries!!! Yum!!! Before dinner, I asked each of the students to write a quote. Can you guess which is your student?
"Fear overpowers the deet!"
"The WeeFee isn't working"
"Can I order guinea pig on my pizza?
"Sarcasm is alive and well on this trip."
"The ocelot takes the cake in November."
"Is that a toucan?"
"First stop in Ecuador, the Ecuador."
"Can we play Bio would you rather?"
"The fact that moths fly to lights because they think it's the moon makes me so overwhelmingly sad."
 "Dr. Campbell, have you ever been arrested?" (The answer was NO)
"Last night, the cat crawled through our window and pounced on my head through the mosquito net! It was terrifying!"
"I wonder if these guinea pigs know they are delicious?!"
"Stop the bus! Like right now, I need to take a picture of that bird!"
"Hey, can I focus that for you? ;)"

Answers to come in a few days! :)

Day 10 - Beaches on the Pacific Coast

Today was an awesome day! I feel sure if you ask the students, that would be a unanimous opinion! We had breakfast at our hotel, then off to the first beach around 8:30. We drove about 30 min to the Machililla National Park. We walked along the beach, climbed some rocks to a cave, took a hike to a "mirodor" and had fun swimming in the ocean. And yes parents - wore lots of sunscreen! Some students even made the HPU Panther in the sand! Way to go Taylor, Brianne, Halley, Adam and Lauren (and their cheering squad)!

 At the "mirador" - ledge that overlooks the ocean:

Above - Logan and Evan investigating the wild life...

We left this beach around 12:30 to go to lunch at Montayara Lodge. We got to go swimming in their pool (pretty awesome) and infinity hot tub that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It was hard to get them moving for our next stop!

We split into 2 groups at this point. One group got off at our hotel to walk the beach, go for a run, or just take a nap.  The other group (my group) went to another town about 30 min away called Montanita. This was a surfer town, with lots of beach vendors and a little mini-market. Some walked the beach and others went shopping. We met back at the bus around 5:30 to head back to the hotel, and saw a howler monkey climbing a tree along side the road. What a unique find (yes, this is actually my picture!)!

Before dinner, some walked to the ocean to see the sun set (every day at 6:15pm), so that makes a total of 3 beaches in one day!!! Dinner was at 7:00, and we ate pizza and ice cream.  Wow - just like back home.  After dinner, we just hung out to talk, or go to bed early. We have another full day of activities on the Pacific Coast.  Here is a picture of the students sitting the the main lodge part using the WiFi before dinner:

Day 9 - Travel day to the Pacific Coast

Today was a long day of riding on the bus. We got up and had breakfast AT 6:30, then left the lodge in Mindo by 7:00. We traveled West through Ecuador, and stopped about 2 hours into the trip at an African Palm Tree farm, owned by our guide's friend, Xavier. We got to see the tall palm trees and learn about their uses. The owner sells the palm fruit to the processing companies that will make the palm oil. The trees last about 30 years, and will make fruit every year. After that time, they chop them down to plant new ones. The new ones will be ready to make new fruit after 3 years. Pretty neat to see these up close.

We got back on the bus for a long drive. We stopped about every 2 hours, and even ate lunch on the bus. We headed West through Ecuador, then traveled down the Via del Sol (road of the Sun) toward our destination of Ayampe. Below is a picture of what they use for taxis in the small ocean towns:

We finally arrived at the hotel around 5:00pm. We checked into our rooms/cabins, then met up for a walk down to the beach. The sand is darker than we expected, but the water was warm (for those that wanted to swim in the ocean). As promised, my picture of the group on the beach:

 The sun set on our first day at the Pacific coast:

Supper was at 7:30, so most just talked and used WiFi until then in the lodge area. Today is Taylor's 21st birthday, so we had the hotel bring a cake for her to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Taylor!

After supper, the sky was extremely clear, so we hung out on the upper deck to look at the stars. Since we are now in the Southern hemisphere, we do not see the same constellations as we see from home. Pretty awesome! Tomorrow we hike the Machalilla National Forest, and swim at some beaches. Don't worry - we have plenty of sunscreen to go around!

Day 8 - Mindo, Ecuador

Good evening! Today was a little less strenuous than the others, since we only had a morning hike around the grounds of our lodge. We met at 7:00 for breakfast (yes, all of your children were up at AND ready by that time) then went to our hike around 8:00. We saw some more native plants, walked down some pretty steep trails, then up some more steep trails. We crossed a really pretty water fall/bridge area. At the top of a hill, our guide surprised us by pulling out a rope swing! Very cool! We all took turns swinging and yelling like Tarzan (no, not really, only some yelled). After the hike we had several hours to relax, swim in the pool, read, walk around the other parts of the lodge area to see birds and flowers, or take a nap.

 Above - picture on the bridge during our hike; Below - picture of the waterfall (taken by Hannah)

Above: Dr. Crater swinging in the trees; Below, lunch outside at our lodge, overlooking the valley.

After lunch, we went for a drive into the nearby town called Mindo. This area is well known for activities such as rafting, tubing, zip-lining, bird watching and a butterfly farm. We rode around the small town and stopped to tour a chocolate "factory." It is not what you would think of as a factory, since it started as a restaurant, and they developed it into a factory with small tours. We saw what happens to the cocoa (pronounced here like ku- COW) plants, how they ferment and dry the seeds, where the roast the seeds and break them into little pieces (called nibs). From there they melt it in a hot room and mix it with sugar and then the cold room where they separate it into bars. We got to peek into some of the rooms through glass windows  - reminded us of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!"  At the end, we got to taste some 100% chocolate, mix it with some sugar or ginger or chili peppers. We also tasted chocolate honey. At the end, we got a small chocolate fudgey brownie that was like heaven!

After the tour, we bought some souvenirs for home, and got back on the bus. We went into another nearby town, Los Bancos and visited another hostel, Mirador Rio Blanco that overlooks a nearby canyon.  We got a chance to walk around a little, see some birds and buterflies, and talk to some other Americans that were staying at this hotel on a bird-watching trip. They had some pretty extensive camera set-ups that made several of our students quite jealous!

We left for our lodge, had dinner, and relaxed in the lodge. Since this is only place with WiFi, students seem to be hanging out here more than in their cabins. Some are playing games, shooting pool, or reading. We have a VERY early morning tomorrow - breakfast at 6:30am and on the road by 7:00. We have an 8 hour drive to the coastal lowlands, and will be stopping along the way for one excursion.  Hopefully on the next blog I can show pictures of the beaches! Yeah!

Some silly pictures of today...:
Kara, Tia, Skylar, Evan and Logan in one of the cabins:

Above: Taylor and Brianne with chocolate "stuck" in their teeth; Below, our version of "blue footed boobies" outside of the Galapagos Islands... (can you guess whose feet are whose?)