GALAPAGOS – Preserving Nature’s Wonders – June 12 – June 25, 2018

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Wednesday June 13, 2018 

Arrived at the airport yesterday and waited for all students to arrive. Got back to hostel after midnight and received our roommate assignments. We went right to bed. Today we had orientation and an activity overlooking the Andes mountains after breakfast. Now we’re getting ready to explore the Old Town of Quito after lunch!

Thursday June 14, 2018 

Yesterday we took an excursion to Quito! We traveled to the statue of the moon and the statue of the sun. We also visited the largest church in Quito, and even went inside a church with gold, decorative walls. We also learned about how chocolate is made in Ecuador. After we toured through the city, we went shopping at the supermarket where we bought snacks for the plane trip. As a group, we are already close knit and we are also excited for the remainder of the trip!

-By Ava & Yobany

Saturday June 16, 2018

Today we woke up and ate a fresh breakfast. We already had our bags packed from the night before because we needed to take an early morning boat from Isabella island to Santa Cruz island. It was a 2 hour boat ride and a lot of people slept. Some people sat in the back and  got completely soaked by the waves!

We arrived and took a bus to our next home base where we settled in and ate a delicious lunch of ceviche , soup, and rice.  After lunch we took another bus to our second service site (which was a tortoise ranch!) We got to plant endemic trees called escalacia trees. We learned tnat there are 15 types of these trees and they are only found in the Galapagos! We worked really hard and planted 200 trees and then surrounded the trees with big lava rocks so the tortoises wouldn’t walk on them and break the stems. It started to rain, but we kept working in the mud!

We worked so hard that the directors let us make a stop at a local store to buy snacks before we walked back to the home base for a nice dinner. (Soup, chicken, rice, and veggies along with fresh juice). At the end of the night we did an activity called “celebration circle” and it brought the whole group even closer together. It was a long, but very great day!

Thursday June 21, 2018

Today we woke up at 6:45, ate breakfast, and took the bus to the national park greenhouse for service. We worked until 12 and then went to the tortoise ranch. The food was muy bueno! We then walked around a bunch of lava tunnels. We then went to some sinkholes called los himelos on the island. Very cool! We then went shopping, ate dinner, and went down to the harbor to look for sharks. Very eventful day here at Galapagos!

Sunday June 24, 2018

For our last day in Ecuador we started out by visiting the equator – the actual line! There, we learned about indigenous cultures of Ecuador, about the process of making chocolate, and all about the equator. We even got to take turns trying to balance an egg on the head of a nail. Those who could do it received an “eggmaster” certificate.

We then got to take a salsa class! When we had worked up an appetite from dancing, we got lunch at a crepe and waffle restaurant and we treated to ice cream.

Lastly, we went to the central market in Quito where we got to shop for blankets, panchos, backpacks, and more!