GALAPAGOS! part 1

Yeah. You read the title right. Los Galapagos. Charles Darwin. Finches. Tortoises. Yeah. Be jealous. I'm two-parting this adventure because we crammed a lot of actividades into six days. Let me first start off by saying that Ecuador and many other Latin American countries celebrate what's called Carnival. It's the days leading up to Ash Wednesday. Schools are closed Monday and Tuesday. La gente (the people) celebrate by throwing water, flour, foam, and eggs at people. Luckily, I was never targeted. Many people also celebrate by going to the beach. What did BCA do? The Galaps. No big deal. Just the BEST VACATION OF MY LIFE!

Thursday, March 3: Day 1
We skipped school on Thursday and Friday for this trip. Totally worth it. Ashley, Julie, and I shared a taxi to the airport and got there around 8:15. Checked our luggage, hung around, went through security, sat there anxiously, and finally left the runway at 11:00. The flight takes two hours, but the Galapagos are one hour earlier than Quito (just like Kansas!), so we landed at 12:30 GT (Galapagos time). 12:30? Yes, for those of you who have mastered basic math skill, that means the flight took 2 and a half hours. Why? Well, we made an unexpected stop in Guayaquil because the airline was short planes so we had to pick up some more passengers. Anyway, we land in the Galapagos. I am on the brink of tears because this place is absolutely incredible. Here I am, 19 years old, traveling to a place that some people would die to visit. A place that some people never get to see. I am truly blessed. The airport is like a large, land-down-under shack. We make it through security and whatnot and get herded onto a bus by our two tour guides (Maximo and William). Though they were complete strangers at the time, we got to know them very well over the next 6 days. You'll hear stories later. We drive for about 7 minutes until we reach a channel that we cross via ferry. On the other side of the channel is Isla Santa Cruz, the most populated Galapagos Island. Ninety seven percent of the Galapagos is Official National Parks. At this point, I am in utter awe of the naturaleza (nature). If you've ever thought "Galapagos. Island chain. Like Hawaii," you're wrong. Reddish-brown rocks, green plants sprouting in all the cracks, cacti everywhere, water bluer than the sky. Sometimes Dr. Seuss-like. Sometimes Mars-like. A magical land.
On the ferry ride we saw our first pelicans and sea turtle. Excitement would be an understatement, but little did we know that we would see more pelicans and sea turtles than we had ever dreamed of. Got on a bus which took us to a place called Los Gemelos (The Twins). There we saw two large craters that were formed when lava bubbles collapsed.

We also saw a Darwin finch. Chevere. Then it was back in the bus and off to our hostal, Cafe Escuba. Very nice accommodations. Ashley, Wesley, Rachele, Hannah, and I stayed in a loft-like room. We had to climb a very wobbly, tight-fit spiral staircase to get to our room, but it was cool and we had a little balcony. Ate lunch. Got fitted with scuba gear. Headed via boat taxi and walking to a little channel where we could cliff jump and snorkel. Yes, Mom. You heard right. Cliff jumping. I'm here typing, so I AM still alive. Just FYI. Don't worry, I wasn't as crazy as Daniel who jumped from the top of the cliff. I was about 2/3 of the way up. And it was awesome.

Practiced snorkeling for the first time ever. I thought it would take a lot of practice, but it's just getting over that initial breath when your face is under the water. I caught on really fast. There wasn't much in the channel to see, but it was exhilarating just to be able to see so clearly under the water. Went back to the hostal. Showered. Supper. Walked into town. Just a really chill place. Julie and I hung out on the pier with the pelicans and just talked about life. Some other BCAers joined us and then we headed back to the hostal. By ourselves. We thought we had paid good attention on our way in, but we got lost on our way back. Asked help from the locals and eventually got back. Bed by midnight.

Friday, March 4: Day 2
Breakfast. Then we went and toured a lava tunnel, one of many that helped birth the island. I learned that a lot of the rocks on the island are red because of the iron in the volcanic rocks. Iron oxidizes the fastest and has a reddish tint. Interesting. It reminded me of a mine shaft. It was about 300 meters long and at one point it had collapsed so we had to army crawl. After the tunnel we went to see the Galapagos tortoises. The giant land ones. They live at this park, but they are free-range, so they can basically go wherever they want.

That reminds me. They are super protective of the Galapagos because of it's biological importance and whatnot, so we aren't allowed to touch any of the animals and we have to stay on paths. That's why we have guides. We have to have a guide everywhere we go. Makes this place seem almost fragile. Handle with care. After viewing the tortoises, they had a shell that we got the chance to climb in and try to walk like a tortoise. Hard stuff. It's pretty heavy and inconveniently bulky.

Headed back to the hostal. Lunch. Then we loaded our stuff on a speed boat and headed two hours to the west to Isla Isabela, the largest in size and third most populated island. It is also in the shape of a caballito del mar (seahorse). It started raining on our way over and it was still raining when we arrived. On our way over I was lucky enough to see two dolphins playing in our wake. Only one other person saw them. Everyone else was sleeping. Loaded up the chivo (large truck-like taxis) and headed to our hostal. Right on the beach. Not even kidding. Dream come true. Ashley and I room together and by luck of the draw, we end up with the "honeymoon sweet." Two queen-size beds, a thin balcony facing the ocean, spaciousness, and...a hole in our wall. I guess they weren't quite done renovating. Oh well. We loved it. We were kind of bummed that it was raining, but some of us headed to a nearby store to get some pan (bread) for a snack. Then we went back to the hostal and chilled until supper. We ate at this restaurant right around the corner every night for supper. They also packed us our lunches. We were always treated with plenty of food. Back to the hostal. Bed.

Saturday, March 5: Day 3
This is what I woke up to. No joke. Hard to beat.

Breakfast at a hostal the street behind ours because ours doesn't do meals. Then it was off to the pier. We split up into 4 fishing boats. I was with Wesley, Ashley, Rachele, and one of our guides, the loco (crazy) one, William. He knows bastante (plenty) ingles, but we also know bastante español. He would tell us things in Spanish and then, thinking we didn't catch it all, he would repeat everything in English. Annoying. After he told us some thing he would say "Preguntas?....Questions?" Yes, William. We have lived here for two months now. We know what "preguntas" means. Anyway. We headed over to Isla Tortuga which looks like a turtle, hence the name. There's a big part that serves as the shell, and then a smaller island nearby that serves as the head. The walls of the island are too steep to land on, so we just boated around them, but man was it gorgeous. The island is home to many birds.

Then we got to snorkel around the island. There were lobos marinos (sea lions) and cangrejos (crabs) and marine iguanas just chillin' on the side of the island. There were also three penguins that were swimming around us. Daniel said he had never been that close to a penguin here. Chevere. While I was snorkeling I saw a sea lion swim under me, a manta ray, and schools and schools of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen. It was like jumping into Finding Nemo. There was one that was royal blue with shinny light blue spots all over. Incredible. Then we headed over to Islote Tintoreras, an island composed of very chunky, dark lava rock. First we snorkeled around the island where I saw a sting ray, a sea turtle, and a lobster (which are apparently rare finds). We were able to then tour the island, which is home to several marine iguanas. They blend in with the rocks, so sometimes you didn't see them until you were walking right by them. 

William: "Say it fast...marineiguanamarineiguanamarineiguana. Hahahahahaha."

Me: "...it sounds like 'marijuana'."

When we got to the beach-half of the island, it was littered with iguanas. Daniel said he had never seen so many. 

There was also a baby sea lion pup that was looking for his mommy. He hopped straight towards our group, we parted, and then he passed right through us and continued on his way. Adorable. This was also the point where William told us that sea lions could live up to 30 years, just like dogs...

Back to the boat. Sack lunch. Back to Isabela. We had a little bit of time to hang out on the beach. Let me tell you, I have never been to a more beautiful beach. Not crowded. Sand finer than silk without ANY rocks, shells, twigs, or anything. Water bluer and clearer than Jake Gyllenhaal's eyes, and cold enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to be comfortable. But...no rest for the weary because then we headed off to a lookout point where we could see across the northern part of the island. Absolutely breathtaking.

Our final stop for the day was at the Muro de las Lagrimas (the wall of tears). Convicts had been sent to the Galapagos because there aren't many places to go if you escape. The scary thing was that they sent 300 convicts to an island with a population of 120 at the time. Talk about fear of an uprising. The general in charge of the convicts decided to keep them busy by having them build a wall out of rocks. He was going to make it a square block and keep the convicts inside, but the mainland heard about what he was doing and stopped him. There are supposedly eight dead bodies in the wall. The Great Wall of Los Galapagos. It was said "Here the strong cry and the weak die." Sobering.

From there it was back to the hostal for supper. Afterwards, some of us girls hit up the town (all 3 streets of it) for some ice cream. Headed back to the beach and had our own private dance party to the music that was playing at the beach party next door. Good times. Halfway done with the Galapagos and I didn't want it to end.