Spring Break (Galápagos Style)

Day 1: Spring break started on the afternoon of Friday, March 20th, when we we took a boat to Santa Cruz. We were three modules deep at this point, and both we and our computers were completely burnt out from running those genetic analysis programs over and over again. I was so happy to climb on that boat and get away from school for a little bit. We arrived in the more populated Santa Cruz around 6, and had dinner and too much nutella gelato.

I made a new friend while waiting for the boat

Day 2: (Santa Cruz) We visited Rancho Primicas to see the giant tortoises, walked through a lava tunnel, and went to Playa de Garrapatero, which is a beautiful white sand beach. The weather wasn't great, but it made for some really cool pictures. The boys started throwing each other and flipping around, and of course I had to join in too. I can never resist being upside down! You can see a picture from the beach in my previous post.

Rancho Primicas

Day 3: This was probably one of my favorite days. We took a gorgeous boat to the Islands of Bartolomé and Santiago. It was a fairly big ship, and the ride there was about 2 hours. It was so nice to sit out on the front of the boat and lay in the sun! (Don't worry mom, I put sunscreen on).  We passed by Daphne Major and Daphne Minor. Daphne Major is the island that two researchers lived either on in a tent or on a nearby boat (unsure which), and did a lot of the finch research that we have come to know and love today. Then, we went snorkeling off the coast of Santiago. We didn't see much, but it was still absolutely gorgeous. Then, we boated over to the neighboring island of Bartolomé. It was absolutely gorgeous. It looked like Mars because there isn't much plant life on it. We walked up to the apex, and saw the most breathtaking view. On our way back to Santa Cruz, we saw a pod of 40 dolphins! It was absolutely amazing. I made a video if you want to see the dolphins swimming under our boat. I wish the video did it justice. It was absolutely amazing!

The view from the top of Bartolomé

Day 4: This was the day we traveled to Isabela. It was a little bit of a bumpy ride, but I am not one to get seasick, so I was fine. I also was kept intellectually stimulated by Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. From this point of the trip on, I was constantly in a state of existential crisis. I liked the book a lot, and it helped me learn a lot about who I am and who I would like to be. It also made me wish I was a double major in Philosophy and Biology. And made me want to go study oriental philosophy in India. However, that's a story for another day. Isabela was absolutely beautiful. We took a boat to the lava tunnels, and walked around on top of them. We saw a TON of marine iguanas. That is one of the spots where they nest. We also saw penguins, blue footed boobies, and white tip sharks. Isabela is the most beautiful island in my opinion. I went to bed early this night after a few games of Spades because we had a 20 kilometer hike to prepare for the next day!

a marine iguana

Day 5: Today was the day we hiked Sierra Negra. It was about 20 kilometers and took us about 5 hours. It was really hard...my feet and calves were hurting at the end, but the top was absolutely amazing. When we walked over the hardened lava I felt like I was on a different planet. I also found this cool little lava hole thing that I squished myself into. Looking back, it probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but it was really fun! It was really hot and quiet inside. This was the night my friends and I had some fun! We went to this little bar on the beach that had drinks inside coconuts and a slackline. It was my first time slacklining, so I wasn't very good at it (plus I had already had a drink from a coconut), but it was still really cool to try!

The lava hole!

This picture is for Dr. Kolonko! These are all of my friends from Juniata! They are some of the more awesome people I have met here :)

Lava field

Day 6: Snorkeling, snorkeling, and more snorkeling! We started off by walking around the lava tunnels. It was incredibly beautiful. Very calm with TONS of sea turtles. I wish we could have snorkeled in there! We then boated over to a different area of lava tunnels where we were allowed to snorkel. I swam with some yellow-tailed surgeonfish and a few sea turtles. We had to get out fairly quickly after because the water was so rough. However, I did get the chance to swim through a few of the lava tunnel holes. Again, this probably wasn't the safest thing to do because the current was so strong, but it was really cool to go through. I'm lucky that I can hold my breath for so long! We went back to Santa Cruz at the end of this day.

One of the turtles I swam with

Caballo de mar (a sea horse!)

Days 7 and 8: Module 4 started. The class I am in now is Global Climate Change: Economics, Science, and Society. This class started off on Santa Cruz with two days of lectures from different NGOs. These days were pretty unexciting because we sat in a lecture hall both days. The only consolation was that there was an amazing ice cream store with real waffle cones right next to the place where we got our lectures. I may or may have not eaten ice cream several times those days. The lectures were pretty boring, and some of them were also completely in Spanish. I was so lost. However, the Thursday we got back to Santa Cruz happened to be ladies night at the discotec, and of course I had to kill it on the dance floor with the rest of my gringas. Our school literally took over the dance floor. It was really fun! I went for a run on Friday afternoon and found the coolest little garden. It was completely made out of mosaics.

Mosaic wall

It was so gorgeous!

Day 9: We got up at 5:30 to go back to San Cristóbal. Of course our boat got delayed, but that was okay. I attempted to teach myself how to do a Rubik's Cube on the way back. I am slowly getting it! I wish I had my own cube. I borrowed it from the guys. They all know how to do it, and none of them will teach me! I am going to teach myself. I think the math and the algorithms behind the whole puzzle is fascinating. I've been reading about it the last few days. We got back home at 10:30, and I came home to open arms and tons of food. I missed my host family so much!

Catch you later, spring break.