Lifeworks teen summer community service and adventure summer camps and programs.

Cascarilla and La Grietas

Day 9: July 21

Author: Clara
Location: Santa Cruz Island

Still slightly asleep, we walked to the local high school. When we arrived, it was evident that the mood between the locals and lifeworkers was slightly awkward. We played the "nose-tape" game, which Laura was reigning champion. A few of us, me included, got a ride up to the highlands in the back of an open chicken-like-carrying truck. Knowing my lack of Spanish skills, I smartly sat myself next to Thomas, one of the few kids who spoke some English. After arriving at the bottom of a hill, we prepared ourselves for a rocky hike. After huffing and puffing for a good 15 minutes, we learned about the task at hand. We then set off into the dense woods and ruthlessly pulled out hundreds of invasive cascarilla plants. In total, the numbe we pulled was around 8000. At 2pm, we met for a trip to las grietas, a crack in the earth filled with salt and fresh water. Everyone was awestruck, both by the beauty of the landscape and the insane cliff-jumping by the local people. We all realized how amazingly lucky we were to be in a place this unique. Once out of the water, Daniel stupidly took out his lunch in front of 12 hungry teens. We soon learned the magnitude of teenage hunger. After we were all sufficiently full, except Daniel, we headed back and tried to inform Theo on the correct way to pronounce "pillow." We then showered, stuffed our faces with delicious food, and headed back to Hotel Castro for an early night to prepare for the adventures that lay ahead on our next day of Lifeworks Galapagos!

Bartolome Day!

Author: Saphir and Eliot
Location: Santa Cruz Island

We started the day half conscious at 4am. We then headed to the opposite side of the island where we all disembarked from the port on our boat. Most of us took a nap, while some watched dolphins, manta rays, and sea turtles. We had a brief breakfast with fabulous hot chocolate. After we arrived at San Bartolome where we started hiking. On our way to the top, we were amazed at how species adapted to nature. Lava lizards have the same color as the ground. We thought some plants, which were growing all over the area, were dead. But the tour guide told us with its narrow leaves it could save water rare in the volcanic islands. At the top, we enjoyed the majestic scenery that was a fantastic blend of volcanic islands, craters, corals, sea, sky, and beach. After we returned we started snorkeling. Snorkeling for the next 2 hours was an adventure in itself. We saw several sea lions, many large sea cucumbers, coral, and starfish. But this was only the beginning! We found hundreds of nearly invisible jellyfish, rare puffer fish (one puffed up!), and trumpet fish. We then saw some penguins, some drying on the beach and one darting in and out of a huge school of fish trying to find lunch. The little guy would pop up right in front of us. We thought there was nothing more we could possibly see, when some white tipped sharks were spotted! Some of us had been in the cold water for a full 2 hours, and so we headed out from the great island. We napped, sunbathed, ate lunch, and admired the view as we crossed the silent, serene ocean. Some of us were lucky enough to see a manta ray doing a triple back flip only 20 feet from the boat. Many agree that this just might be the best day we've had in Galapagos.

Recycling

Author: Averill
Location: Santa Cruz Island

We work up early and after breakfast we met with Marcos to go to the recycling station. We helped with making compost, separating recyclables and crushing plastic. We went to lunch at Descansa Del Guia and then did a painting project. The coolest thing was that we got a tour of the Darwin Research Station. Some of it was hard to understand, but the stuff they find here is so cool!