Gorgeous Galápagos

Pic 1: Me with some giant tortoises
Pic 2: Hannah, Amber, Pam and I in front of the 2nd largest crater/volcano in the world
Pic 3: Iguana
Pic 4: Last night... just arrived to San Cristobal
Pic 5: Last day... a beach at San Cristobal

I just got back from a trip to the Galápagos Islands with my entire program. If you’re like me, I didn’t know much about them until I found out I was going (some people would probably want to punch me about now…. don’t worry, I have come to love, appreciate, and have found a new favorite place in this world). Anyway, I will give those of you, who are like me and don't know much about the Galápagos, a few highlights from my travel book to paint a picture of the world that I just got to experience.

Lonely Planet says “Nowhere else can you engage in a staring contest with wild animals and lose. You can’t help thinking you’ve stumbled upon an alternate universe, some strange utopian colony organized by sea lions- the golden retrievers of the Galápagos- and arranged on principles of mutual cooperation…. The islands have taken on a mythological status….. You don’t have to be an evolutionary biologist or an ornithologist to appreciate one of the few places left on the planet where the footprint of the human presence is kept to a minimum.”

We visited 4 islands in 5 days. It was go, go, go the entire time…. and let’s just say I’m still worn out. In my anthropology class we discussed the Islands a good bit. Everything about the Islands is to make the least amount of impact as possible. Even if you are Ecuadorian, you can’t just move there. You have to marry someone from the Islands (we were all on the look out for Mr. Romeo while we were there, so we could move!) and you have to be given special permission to study there, and it is only temporary. There are concerns about the increase in tourism, but at the same time, that is the number #1 moneymaker by a landslide. In the 1990’s there were about 60,000 tourists annually and in 2008 it has gotten up to 180,000. (I’d be curious to see what Disney World does in 1 day.) Anyway, I’m digressing…. bottom line: it is a fine line that they are teetering with.

Okay, on to the fun stuff. We went snorkeling several times. While snorkeling, I swam with schools of fish, including the blue and yellow fish (Dory from Finding Nemo), a stingray, a penguin, and a sea lion (saw tons of these on a beach on one island). At one point, a few of us swam over to this small little islet. White sandy beaches, gorgeous water, basically paradise… then this Sea Lion and her little baby came up on shore. Our guide said the baby was no more then 3 or 4 days old. At one point, I just laid down on the sand, and tried to take it all in….. it was complete and pure bliss. I can’t tell you how many times I had to remind myself that everything was real. I thought I had either A) died and gone to heaven or B) was about to wake up from a dream.

We took relatively small boats from one island to another. There were 10 of us on my boat. Most of the rides were about 3 hours. At one point we found a pod of dolphins. I would guess there were about 50 dolphins. We approached them slowly and were following them for about 5 minutes. It was spectacular. A few days later, we saw what appeared to be water coming up from a whale’s blowhole. Once again, on the boat, we slowly approached the whale, and finally got pretty darn close to it. Amaaaazing.

On top of it all, I had the best time with my (relatively) new friends. We all just let loose and had a ball. Practically every time we sat down for a meal, I would laugh so hard I would be crying and my cheeks would hurt. So. Much. Fun.

This weekend, I need to get some much needed homework done, and then Mom and Bill will be here on Tuesday!!!