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Saturday June 30, 2018
Good morning from Quito! All students have arrived and we are en route to the Galapagos!
Sunday July 1, 2018
Today, we walked on the beach, and it was so pretty! We found many crabs and iguanas. After that, we hiked to an inlet called El Estero. There, we saw Blue-footed Boobies and a sea lion who was so adorable!
We hiked back to the hostel and got ice cream along the way.
After lunch, we had our first service day at a tortoise preserve! We finished our service with a soccer game before returning to the hostel for dinner and our nightly activity.
-By Mariana & Matthew
Hello families! Blogs have been delayed due to internet connectivity on Isabella Island, but we’re catching up on last week’s recaps!
Monday we started by going to the beach where we split up and snorkeled and kayaked. While snorkeling we saw multiple sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, and different types of fish. While kayaking we encountered numerous waves as well as a few penguins! On land there were many sea lions and one even climbed up on our bags and pushed them over! We had ice cream on the beach before heading back to homebase for lunch. After lunch, we headed to Campo Duro, where we continued yesterday’s work of removing rocks and roots in the tortoise habitat. After sweating a lot we had some yellow oranges and passion fruit. Before heading to base we played a quick game of soccer where our guide, Fernando, scores a “3 point goal”. At homebase we had dinner and finished sharing our stories before going to bed.
-by Vishal and Abby
Wednesday July 4, 2018
We started off the day painting the basketball court for a local elementary school. It was so satisfying to see the big grins on the kids’ faces! After painting we headed to the tortoise breeding center where we saw some adorable baby tortoises and learned a lot of cool facts about them. We then had group bonding time and headed over to the beach, where we ate empanadas, ceviche, and ice cream. Some of us went for a swim and picked up the litter that we found in the ocean. Others played soccer on the beach with some local kids. It was a great last day in Isabella Island!
-by Zara and Asher
Thursday July 5, 2018
Today we woke up early to prepare for our day of travel. We took a boat from Isabella island to Santa Cruz island which took about two hours. The boat ride was wet and wild. After arriving in Santa Cruz, we quickly unloaded at our new hostal, Arena Negra. For lunch, we ate a yummy bowl of ceviche and rice.
At our service site, we cleared boulders/rocks and planted trees to combat the invasive species. We were surrounded by 20 – 30 tortoises the whole time which was super amazing to experience. After volunteering, we ate some cheese empanadas as a snack and came home to some chicken and rice for dinner. Our evening activities included getting ice cream in Puerto Ayora as well as looking at a TON of sharks and sea lions that we could see right off the dock. We are very excited to continue exploring the islands. We love the Galapagos!
-by Jason and Erin