Days 1-7 | Days
8-14 | Days
15-21
Day 1: July 13
Author: n/a
Location: Somewhere in the sky
Wake up, put your toothbrush in your bag, and head out to begin the journey
to Quito! Eleven students and one staff arrive in and make their way to Hostal
el Arupo...
Day 2: July 14
Author: n/a
Location: Quito
We began our first day at the relatively sane hour of 7:30, though for some
of us it seemed almost impossible to appear 5 or 6 hours before the normal
teenage waking hour of 12. Despite minor groaning, and thanks to the unfailingly
positive attitudes of our funmakers Theo and Daniel, we managed to make it
onto a tour bus with only a few forgotten items and make our way to Otavalo.
This town, 2 1/2 hours away from Quito, is famous for its open air market,
although none of us gringos had ever heard of it. We arrived to find ourselves
in a bustling rural metropolis of shawl bedecked locals frying bananas, displaying
big carcasses and shoving alpaca shawls into our unbelieving faces as soon
as we stepped onto the sidewalk. Cries of "dos por cinco" and "los
mejor precios aqui" fill the air. We wander through a maze of local handicraft
stalls and fruit stands for two hours, somehow manage to find lunch, and successfully
haggle some decent prices out of the eager vendors, all the while trying not
to seem like the ignorant and vulnerable tourists that we very obviously are.
Once we returned to the bus, full of empanadas and carrying our news bracelets
and scarves, we venture off to "Mitad del Mundo" - the Equator (or
as Daniel likes to put it, the Eee-quator...wooow!). We considered going to
the top of a monument where people used to think the Equator was, didn't, and
continued on to the real Equator line. This museum is harder to find, and apparently
it is not uncommon for tourists to go to the first monument and never realize
that they had missed the Equator completely. Luckily for us, we had Trusty
Theo and Daring Daniel to guide us. We learned about native tribal groups,
Margaux balanced an egg on a nail with the help of lesser gravity, and then
the group took our leave to return to Quito and a nice hot shower. It's been
a fantastic day, and all of us are excited for the next 20 to come (pound it!).
Day 3: July 15
Author: Laura
Location: San Cristobal
We woke up very early, at 5am! We had to catch a 7am flight from Quito to
Baltra (which is the island in the Galapagos that has the airport.) Once we
got to the islands we met out third instructor, Row, and really got the trip
started! All fifteen of us got aboard the Blue Fantasy for the ride to San
Cristobal. The boat ride was the longest 2 hours of many peoples lives. Once
we got to San Cristobal, we settled into the hotel Mar Azul. After the group
got settled into their room with new roomates, we headed to the beach! Some
of us played soccer or frisbee, some snorkeled and played with the sea lions
and some just watched everything around them but everyone had a blast! We went
straight to the restaurant for either a vegetarian spaghetti or an Ecuadorian
fish dinner. Once we got back to the Mar Azul Hotel everyone relaxed until
our fun group meeting at 8pm. During our meeting, we played games, talked about
our fears for the next 3 weeks and our expectations. Around 10pm everyone was
crashing and it was time to go to sleep after our first day in the Galapagos
Islands! Ps. Hi Dad from Doodle-Bug!
Day 4: July 16
Author: Deborah and Sophie
Location: Galapaguera
We started the day at 8am in the morning. Breakfast was good, as usual, at the
local cafe with cereal and toast. Our day trip began with a relaxing bus ride
to the Galapaguera. Havier, a park employee, was kind enough to give us a tour
of the grounds. As we walked along, and Havier explained the history of the park
we stumbled upon a huge boulder, surprisingly it turned out to be a giant tortoise.
As we stood in shock staring at this unique creature we noticed there were giant
tortoises everywhere. After the tour it was time to get to work. We put on our
work gloves and were told we were going to remove an invasive plant species known
as the Supa-Rosa. Although removing this plant would seemingly be a horrible
experience, everyone enjoyed each others company as we sang Disney songs. It
was rewarding to see that mostly all of the Supa Rosas were removed by lunchtime.
After lunch we walked to the beach. The walk was long but it was all worth it
when we saw the beautiful beach scenery and the sight of pure blue water and
the clean sand was breathtaking. We enjoyed a long swim in the water, jumping
over waves and body surfing. After the swim we picked up trash on the beach,
although the beach was pretty clean. After our job was done we headed back to
the hotel and had a dinner of fried chicken and pasta. After dinner, the entire
group met in the kitchen for a heated forum on what we consider a service. The
day came to end with a bit of tension, but overall it was a good day.
Day 5: July 17
Author: Everyone
Location: Galapagos
Today a few of us woke up early to go on a run before breakfast while others
were still asleep. When they returned it was time for breakfast. All of us then
walked to the hardware store to get paint and paint brushes. We then arrived
at the school where we were painting the walls. Many of us got attached to the
kids at the school. We played soccer and basketball with them. We went to a new
place for lunch where we had delicious smoothies. When we had stuffed ourselves
we went to the interpretation center to watch a documentary on the Galapagos.
Most of us fell asleep during the movie. After the movie we went and got ice
cream before our amazing dance class. We learned many new dance steps with some
of the children from the school we were working at. Looking forward to another
great day!
Day 6: July 18
Author: Taylor
Location: San Cristobal Island
Today we took the bus up into the highlands to cut down blackberry bushes (mora)
that were taking over the area. The bushes were very thorny, however the task
was an excellent way to relieve frustration...whacking away at the ground. We
ended up clearing out much of the area and the people who worked there were very
grateful. After leaving the highlands we ate lunch and then went to the school
we had visited before to finish up our paint job. From there we got some ice
cream and went to the beach. We then ate dinner at the usual place, had some
free time in which most of us relaxed, then went to bed.
Day 7: July 19
Author: Laura
Location: San Cristobal Island
This morning we woke up early and went for a day trip to Isla Lobos and Kicker
Rock on "The Blue Fantasy," a ferry boat. After walking around and exploring
for a few hours, we returned to San Cristobal and has some free time. Most of
us used the internet, phones, or just too time to relaz. We had dinner at Calypso
again and then the staff from the Galapagos National Park gave a presentation.
Days 1-7 | Days 8-14 | Days 15-21
