Jen Goes to the Galapagos!

Our last day in Quito was very uneventful.  We had all day off, so I slept until 12.  Catching up on sleep was so necessary.  Once  I finally woke up, Elena, Evelyn and I were supposed to meet everyone else for ceviche.  But there was another one of the same stores much closer, so we just went to that one.  I didn’t get ceviche, but the food was still really good.  After, we went back to the Artisan Market to get a few last minute gifts.  We also went to the Park Ejiro or something like that because on weekends they have a market.  It was fun.  When we first got to Quito, we were warned to excess about being safe about everything.  Basically, they told us to stay in to the hotel for the whole time.  But once we were in the city, we realized that as long as we stayed together and weren’t stupid about things, we would be fine.  No 8 year olds with rusty nails. The park was actually really nice, ut probably not too safe at night.  After that, we went to sit and have a cup of coffee.  Then we went back to supermaxi.  I bought some amazing jam.  We went back to the hotel and got ready for our goodbye dinner.  The goodbye dinner was nothing special.  The food was okay, and the company was okay.  We went back to the hotel, and after the typical 30 minute of debate, decided to go out to the square.  We got a drink and hung out.  I had a good time, but it’s hard to go out with such a big group unless you have a plan in mind.  It was a little stressful.  But still, it was fun.  We went back to the hotel, talked a little, and went to bed.  This morning was a scare because Sarah thought she lost her passport.  She found it.  Anyway, now we’re at the airport- the plane is delayed.  I’m ready to go home.  Next time I need to remember my ruby slippers.

I’ll write a last post when I’m in a better mood.

Lat night we went out and sat and had some hot chocolate.  We walked around a little, but we were warned so extensively about how dangerous it was that no one really wanted to stay out.  It was a little sketchy.  Besides, no one really felt 100%.  The changing altitude and the motion sickness from living on a boat for 4 days was getting to everyone.  So we came back, and went to bed.  Today, we had nothing planned.  Some people went to the museum of water, while some of us stayed back and caught up on our sleep.  Later, we are getting ceviche (or whoever eats ceviche), and going back to the Artisian Market to get some last minute gifts.  We are also going to supermaxi.  It wouldn’t be our last day in Quito if we didn’t go to Supermaxi.  Anyway, I’m over it here.  I don’t like being more nervous walking the streets than I am in New York.  I know there is so much to do, but I miss MY city.  I could also settle for going back to San Cristobal =)

Tonight we have our goodbye dinner!

So the past 5 hours have been relaxing.  I napped on the deck, played a little cards, bonded with my peers.  Same old.  It feels like everyone is trying to make the best out of the little time we have left together.  Like right now, jamming out to Thank You by Dido.  Dance like nobody’s watching.

We had a goodbye drink, goodbye dinner, and went to Santa Cruz.  Elena and I didn’t want to go shopping, so we stayed on the boat a little later and talked with the crew.  When we got on land, we went to a bar called Bongo, and Carlos bought us all a drink. I’m going to miss Carlos.  We went across the street to a club and danced.  It was a lot of fun, but no San Cristobal.  I miss it.  But we made the best of it.  The locals were a little sketchier in Santa Cruz. Anyway, we took a cab-boat back to Archipell II, and we hung out for a little while.  I jumped off the boat and swam.  It was so nice.  A few of us slept on the deck outside.  Waking up to the sun was amazing.  This morning, we left early and went to another tortoise breeding center.  Carlos left early, so only Javier took us.  It started raining so we left, but we still got to see a few tortoises.  I love rain, it wouldn’t have stopped me.  However, the people on this trip aren’t exactly low-maintenance.  We went to a lava cave- this long cave naturally made by gases expanding in the lava.  It was unbelievable.  Literally.  I must have asked Javier 3 times if he was sure it wasn’t man-made.  There were parts where we had to crawl (everyone got nice and dirty), and climb a little bit.  It was amazing.  Last we went to something called the twin craters.  They were two giant holes in the ground made naturally by the expanding gases in the lava.  Amazing.  They started growing vegetation.  It was so cool.  And finally, airport time.  It was not easy saying goodbye to the Galapagos.  Mentally and physically.  We took a bus, to a ferry, to another bus.  There was a point on the first bus ride where Bob Marley was playing, and there was and endless road ahead.  It was humid, and we were covered with dirt and rain.  It was perfect.  I also bonded with this little bug.  Life was good.  We also ran into our friend from San Cristobal, Edison on the ferry.  He is a naturalist.

We waited at the airport, and left.  The airport was nothing like the airports in America.  It was small, the roof was leaking, and there was only one plane.  The flight was short, uneventful, and now we are back in Quito.  It was so hard saying goodbye to Carlos.  He said he will try to go to the goodbye dinner, but I doubt he will.  I’m going to miss him so much.  I have never had a teacher so invested in his students.  Hopefully we will keep in touch.  We just went to this square in Quito and bought ecuadorian chocolate.  There is so much to do there, we are going back tonight.  I miss San Cristobal

Alright, lets do this quickly.  I have a deck to sit on and a nap to take.  I woke up, and Justyna wrapped my leg.  It helped a lot.  We went to Isabela.  BEAUTIFUL.  Its so hard to remember everything that happens, we do so much, and it is all so amazing.  Isabela has about 4000 people on it, much less modern than san christobal.  Dirt roads, and dingy houses.  Some houses were big, but those were the ones that illegal fishers owned.  So we drove for a little while, and got to this walking area.  First we went to a lookout point that was amazing.  We saw some beautiful flamingos on the way!  Its funny how everything seems dead and dry, but filled with life at the same time.  Our next spot was the wall of tears.  Apparently prisoners used to be forced to carry huge rocks and build a wall, just to waste time.  This was until 1959!  They would often die while doing this.  The huge wall of rocks remains.  They would try to escape, but had nowhere to go.  The island was uninhabitable.  Next we went to the tortoise breeding center.  Like the first one in the highlands, it was amazing.  In addition, they had a succession of embryos.  It was really interesting.  We drove past this amazing beach that was so shallow for yards and yards.  These beaches are all so unbelievable it is hard to keep track.  This one though, burned an image in my head.  It was something you couldn’t even dream of.  There were ghost hermits scuttling, and a giant marine iguana  Some guy tried to chase it, and Carlos yelled at him from the car.  Go Carlos!  Last we went to the lava fields.  There were these huge misshapen black rocks all over the place.  Iguanas were everywhere, and they were HUGE.  It was really amazing.  Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  But it was hot, and we left.  Back on the boat.  Snacks were waiting for us =). Life is good.

So we woke up this morning at 7, and left at 8.  We went to, and I might be screwing the order of these islands up, Floreana.  We went to this place called Post Office Bay.  There is a barrel that people put post cards into, that are picked up by future tourists who leave new post cards to be hand delivered.  I took one from Massapequa.  It’s a really nice idea- and forms a connection between the people who left a postcard, and the people who deliver it, and the people who receive it.  We wrote a card for the next years CUNY crew, and one to Catherine.  I hope they get to them!  After, we played soccer with the crew.  It was a lot of fun.  But, I did something funny to my knee.  It twisted and popped.  So I sat out for a minute, then went back in.  But alas, it happened again, and I decided that was enough of that.  Next we went snorkeling.  It was the most amazing time.  There were sharks, manta rays, beautiful starfish, and hundreds of fish.  Even the coral on the sides were beautiful.  It was amazing.  We got back on the boat, had lunch, and had a siesta.  I took another nap on the deck.  Then we went back out to Floreana and went to the beach.  The sand was amazing.  It was so thin.  I kept comparing it to cornstarch.  It was so nice.  There were no rocks.  We walked for a little, saw some like flat body of water with lots of salt deposits (apparently that’s where the flamingos hang out, but there weren’t any today}, then to the other side of the island.  There was this beach that was talking up as being the “green “ beach, but it was more olive brown than green.  There were little green crystals in the sand though, if you looked hard enough.  We all watched some hermit crabs scuttle around, then went to one more beach.  Words can’t even begin to describe it.  All beaches are beautiful, but this was beyond words.  The fine sand, the gently rolling waves, and the bright red crabs contrasting against the dark rocks barely start to explain how amazing it was.  We sat for a while, watch the sunset, and returned.  Oh, I forgot to mention.  At some point today, we saw penguins!  They were adorable.  Probably my favorite animal I’ve seen so far.  Watching them walk was so cute!  So we got back, watch a presentation, had dinner, watched two more presentation, and now I’m going to bed cuz my leg hurts.  I also have to save my energy for Santa Cruz tomorrow night!

This cruise is amazing.  We got back last night, and hung out on the deck for a little while.  By the time we got to bed, I was exhausted and went straight to sleep.  We woke up today at 7, had an amazing breakfast, and left at 8.  We went to this unbelievable beach.  The sand was so fine it slipped through your fingers.  We hung out for about 2 hours.  We saw some hawks, and lots of sea lions.  It was really nice to hang out.  A bunch, if not all of us went swimming.  We got back on the dingy and went on the boat.  Of course, there was a snack waiting for us… and juice!  They are treating us too well.  Oh! The towels were folded for us in really fun designs.  They put eyes on our towels.  Mine was a dog, Kristina’s was a monster.  So. Cool.  Okay, so after our snack, we went back out to go snorkeling.  It was really nice. We didn’t see anything crazy, but its still an amazing thing to do.  I got to see a sea lion underwater- it was so graceful. Opposed to on ground where it is cute, but very awkward.  We saw some marine turtles, and lots and lots of fish.  I wish we learned more about marine animal behavior, but I can ask Carlos tomorrow at breakfast.  Lunch- like every meal- was amazing.  I napped for a little bit outside (most rejuvenating nap of my life) and soon it was time to go out again.  We went hiking.  Where do I begin.  As soon as we stepped onto the island there were sea lions, iguanas, and crabs, with frigate birds, hawks, and boobies flying above.  There were animals everywhere.  We had two personal tour guides to explain their behavior to us, so we were never bored.  The female lava lizards heads turn red when they are mating, and the marine iguanas also turn some beautiful colors.  We learned about how they displayed aggression., and how they sneezed to expel salt.  We saw a day-old sea lion with the umbilical cord still attached.  It was adorable.  We went to this cliff where I could have stayed for hours.  The rocks formed a sort of pool, and watching water flow in and out was so soothing.  We had to keep walking, though.  We went to another cliff.  Below us, the rocks formed into sort of a crevasse, and when there was a wave, water shot out of it like at Yellowstone.  Except it happened every 10 seconds. It was beautiful.  My favorite part was watching all of the Nazca Boobies, and having Carlos being my personal tour guide to talk about them!  To do all of this research, then watch a colony of them behave the way I studied was amazing.  We saw mothers with their egg, or eggs, and even saw some Nazca-sex.  It was disappointing.  But Espanola as a whole was unbelievable.  Untouched.  Much more like what the Galapagos is expected to be like.  Justyna, Kristina and myself kind of lagged behind towards the end, but everyone else was rushing to leave.  Granted, it got hot, but you have to ignore that when experiencing something so amazing.  Eventually we left.  Snacks were waiting for us.  We watched the sunset and some people jumped off the boat (after quite some convincing).  I also gave a “worm tutorial”. Dinner was delicious.  I had to do my presentation after dinner.  It was perfect timing because we had just seen Nazcas in action.  Carlos had a lot to say.  We really don’t understand obligate siblicide in terms of evolution, but he helped shed light on some theories.  After the presentations, we went back on the deck and just chatted.  It was really nice.  Elias and I layed in lounge chairs and talked about anything and everything.  Now, I’m off to bed.  We are doing this thing with post cards tomorrow.  Apparently you bring one to mail, and talk one to hand deliver.  It’s a very cool idea.  Also, soccer!  Whoo hoo!

We got to the boat today and it is unbelievable.  There is an entire upper deck with lounge chairs, and the bottom has a living room, a giant dining room, and cabins.  I’m rooming with Kristina. Our tour guides name is Javier.  So after having to say goodbye to San Cristobal, we found out that we were going back tonight.  How anti-climactic. During the day we went to Isla Los Lobos.  Its also called sea lion island.  It was really cool to talk about their behavior then see them in action.  There were babies, and mothers, and everything in between.  They were everywhere.  Next we went snorkeling.  It was the same place we went to before Kicker Rock.  But there wasn’t as much to see as there was last time.  We got back on the boat, and there was a snack waiting for us.  There is a coffee machine always out, and cookies and chocolate.  They are spoiling us.W We went back to San Cristobal to get a few drinks, and hopefully say goodbye number 2, but Ramiro wasn’t there.  We did run into Johnathan and Andres, so we got to say goodbye to them.  We exchanged facebooks.  It seems that the locals are much more interested in making lasting friendships than the visitors.  I appreciate that.  We roamed for a little bit, talked about how strange it must be that while you are staying, the people around you are constantly changing, and went to the pier.  We talked to Carlos and watched the animals for a while.  We laughed with him about jumping off the pier.  I could literally watch a sea lion for hours before getting bored.  I’m going to miss this place.  Sitting on the beach, watching the high tide crawl up on the shore.  Seeing a wave bring a horde of crabs onto the rocks.  Oh, and walking around barefoot.  Have I mentioned that I barely ever wore shoes? Didn’t matter where I was going, people just don’t wear shoes here.  I love it.  Oh, and the coffee is amazing.

I want to remember everything.

For the past few days we have been living on a cruise ship without internet, so I am posting everything now.  I don’t know the dates of things though, so I have to be creative.

So this morning, we took our final exam. Everyone was panicking. I think we all got A’s. I went to sleep at 4, woke up at 6 30 to study. It went well. And Carlos used the question I wrote on the test! So I know I got at least one right. After the test, I went home and slept. We were supposed to go surfing at 12 00 with Bromero and Johnathan and crew, but apparently no one was up for it. So we spent all day on the beach. I was taking a nap at 12 anyway, so it definitely wouldn’t have worked out for me. After lunch, I dropped off laundry. Playa Mann was really nice. It was 8 of us. We hung out, went swimming, got drinks, and talked. At about 5 we started walking to the “sunset beach” as we’ve been calling it, or Corola. Our first day we watched the sunset there. We went full circle. It was beautiful. We took pictures of each other on the beach, then sat and watched the sun fall. It was just as, if not more amazing as the first time we went. Eventually, we walked to dinner, trying to soak in every last minute of the sunset. At night, a few of us hung around the lobby for a little, but then Kristina and I went for a walk. We chatted with Bromeo about life, and then when we said goodnight to him, went to playa man. It hard to think that the people we met and the connections we made are so fleeting. It ends. Is it worth it? Romiro convinced me that it is. Even if you don’t get to see each other all of the time, it’s worth making the connection. Its weird to think that this is how the locals live. Meeting people, making connections, saying goodbye. It all happens so fast. Saying goodbye to San Cristobal was really hard. We had class, listened to some presentations and walked back. Got ice cream for the last time (there is amazing ice cream here), and left.

Today was the most relaxing day.  I didn’t wake up until 10, then I got coffee.  I sat outside for about an hour, then hung out with Elena.  We did some souveneer shopping, got ice cream, pilsener and hung out on the beach. Sarah came too.  There were the guys on the beach, one of them worked at Iguana, and the other was in a silly looking brown speedo.  Basically, Elena got drunkenly proposed to.  It was quite a scene.  He “played a song for her” and everything.  It was really funny.  We also saw a sea slug.  It was so weird.  We thought it was a conch, and when we touched it, we realized it wasn’t.  There was a crowd of about 10 people around us trying to figure out what it was.  Granted, we didn’t speak the same language, but it was still really interesting. Eventually, one of the guides, or something (I’m not sure what he was, apparently a diver?) told us what it was.  It was so cool.  It looked like a heart.  He used the sand to scoop it up and but it back in the water, because apparently they don’t do well away from the rocks.  He and his friend chatted with us for a little while, and we went back.  Dinner didn’t have many people, because lots of people went out for sushi.  But the few of us that were there had a lot of fun.  We went back, stopped at “Bromeros” cuz he was keeping something in the fridge for me, then went back.  At night, we met up with a few people, and all went to Iguana… A little bit of drama went around about the locals talking to the tourists about each other.  But after that, the night was good.  We went to The Island, danced a lot, then went back to the hotel.  There was some crazy guy claiming to be the president or something. It was really funny.  We went to Romero’s for a nightcap, and bedtime.  Didn’t get back until super late, but final tomorrow!  (If it hasn’t seemed like it so far, I am actually taking classes here).

So lets start with the bad news. Catherine is going home. She isn’t going on the boat cruise. Which is understandable, but really unfortunate. She can’t participate in any of the activities, really. This morning I was not a happy camper. I only got about 3 hours of sleep. Either way, I woke up, went to class, stayed awake (!) and went back and napped. After lunch I napped more. I really didn’t feel well. After afternoon classes, I watched the sunset at playa man. Its always crowded at that time, so it was really cool to people watch, also. I was there for about an hour, but I could have stayed for hours. We had dinner, and eventually went out. We went to Iguana Rock, then the Island. It was so much fun. Every danced like crazy. Until we heard a bottle break and a fight broke out. It was definitely an experience. One of Danny’s (our tour guide’s) friends had a bottle broken over his head- but he was fine. Laughing it off… covered in blood. Apparently that happens all the time. It’s a very male-dominated egotistical world. I didn’t feel threatened though. It was just some men angry with each other over… something. Anyway, we walked back after, talked outside with Danny for a little, then went to sleep. It was a long day. But we get to sleep in tomorrow!