Day 5 - Espanola Island

Class observing young sea lions basking in the sun.

by Keeling Wood

One of Darwin's finches.

Snorkeling in cool waters off Espanola Island.

Garrett getting a close-up of sea iguana.

Nazca booby.

Waved albatross.

Courtship display.

Day 12 - Voyage to the Amazon basin

Waking up at 4:45 is only fun when you are preparing to travel for more than 20 hours.   Lucky enough for us, we were all very, very excited to begin this exiting trek into the jungle.  Meeting our poor travel agent, who was also forced to get up at this early hour, we took a picture with her, then said goodbye as we headed off to begin a journey of our own.  A two and a half hour boat ride later, during which a herd of narwhals may or may not have been swimming un-known under the boat, we arrived back at Puerto Ayora, where we ate a long awaited breakfast then hopped on a bus to get to the other end of the island.  Here, we caught another boat, which took us a couple of hundred feet across the channel, finally at the airport.  A couple of overpriced t-shirts and slices of chocolate cake later, we boarded flight 193 to Quito.  

              The plane ride was truly incredible, mostly because of the people who were aboard with us.  Rebecca, who we quickly began calling Sarah like all girls we have met thus far, provided comical relief throughout the entire trip.  Landing in Quito was a great relief for all of us who craved some good eats.  After grabbing some grub at a burger joint, which might have been jackalope meat but we don’t know, because no one asked, we boarded a bus for the final leg of our mystical quest into the Amazon jungle.  This trip slightly longer than expected, because the road which we were supposed to take was washed out because of a ton of rain, but it was yet another great trip because we went through our old English poems laughing at their intense comical.   The day was excellent for those who chose for it to be.

 by Shep Sims

Day 9 - Travel to Isabela Island and Campo Duro

 Today was a big travel day. We were able to sleep in and explore Puerto Ayora for the last time, since our boat, the New Ocean, did not leave until after lunch.  The New Ocean was a nice boat, however, I don't think it was built to hold twenty seven people. We were all squished together. The ride was also very rough, as the waves dumped water on Spencer and the other people at the back of the boat. 
    
We then arrived to Isabella Islands and met our tour guides there, Jessica and Lauren. We then went directly to where we were staying for the night Campo Duro. Campo Duro was our one opportunity to camp in the Galapagos. It was really cool being able to camp, but it wasn't fun to be woken up at four thirty by the roosters. That night, we ate chicken, rice, and potatoes there for dinner. Since we got there so late, we decided to go to bed early.
 Today was a big travel day. We were able to sleep in and explore Puerto Ayora for the last time, since our boat, the New Ocean, did not leave until after lunch.  The New Ocean was a nice boat, however, I don't think it was built to hold twenty seven people. We were all squished together. The ride was also very rough, as the waves dumped water on Spencer and the other people at the back of the boat. 
    
We then arrived to Isabella Islands and met our tour guides there, Jessica and Lauren. We then went directly to where we were staying for the night Campo Duro. Campo Duro was our one opportunity to camp in the Galapagos. It was really cool being able to camp, but it wasn't fun to be woken up at four thirty by the roosters. That night, we ate chicken, rice, and potatoes there for dinner. Since we got there so late, we decided to go to bed early.

Pelicans and sea lions enjoy Puerto Ayora fish market.

Garrett taking time to catch-up on the blog.

Relaxing at Campo Dura.

Day 11 - Tintoreras and bike ride to wetlands.

Galapagos  Penguin

We left for Tintoreras Island in the morning. When we arrived, lichen appeared to cover all of the lava rocks on the island. When we walked around to the other side of this small island, we couldn't see the lichen as much. The guide then explained that the lichen grew mostly facing south accounting for why we could see it more on one side of the island relative to the other side. Continuing our stroll, we also had to slip by an angry sea lion as the guide distracted it. This guide had guts. As we continued to walk, we observed large colonies of iguanas basking on rocks. After the walk, we snorkeled in the bay we entered. As we snorkeled, penguins and sea lions greeted us swimming up to us. I would dive into the water as they chased fish on a wild hunt. Afterwards, we went to a national park center and had a meeting with a worker named David. He spoke to us about their goals, work, and successes thus far. Very passionate about his dream, he explained to us about proper education of children about respecting the environment and cooperating to make a better life for the natural world, humans, and the country. We then left to visit a high school to plant trees. We soon encountered a slight predicament. Due to a bit of miscommunication, we had the tools, the soil, the workers, but no trees. Instead, we went on a tour of the school and its elementary school extension. We saw other gardening projects, and I was pretty amazed by all the work the students have done planting trees, plants, and flowers. Short on time, we soon left to go biking. The bikes weren't exactly the best bikes ever, but we still rode off, bound for the Wall of Tears. We arrived there, and we learned about prisoners forced to construct their own jail. Returning back, we took a short stop by a lake. There, we observed flamingos. One of them had their head in the water occasionally coming up for air. Afterwards, we returned the bikes and we voted on dinner. Many of us were missing some nice American food, so we ended up at a pizza place. Jimmy and I shared an entire continental pizza. For dessert, we bought ice cream and candy at a corner store. Back at the hotel, I finally connected to what little wifi there was. After about 5 days of no communication, I was able to message my mother and girlfriend. I can't wait to give them their gifts!

by Jose Hernandez 

Sea Lion defending his territory.

Lichen covered lava rocks.

More marine igunas.

 
 

Snorkeling with penguins.

 

Pacific Green Sea Turtle.

Touring school in  Puerto Villamil. 

Galapagos Tortoise along bike trail.

Wall of tears.

Hank making a journal entry.