Last week I took a trip to Santa Cruz. The main village, Puerto Ayora, is the Galapagos tourist hot-spot. I hadn’t seen so many gringos in months. While Santa Cruz has its beauty marks, I was turned off by the mass amounts of tourists, and after 4 days there was glad to begin my boat trip. The one thing I did really enjoyed was Las Grietas, a deep, narrow brackish pond that we I found despite almost breaking my ankle on the lava hike there. Living on the “Yahte Rumba” for four days, I visited many of Galapagos’s uninhabited islands. New creature sightings included the Galapagos Fur Seal, the Red-Footed Booby, and quite a few bird species. I’ve taken up birding due to inspiration from Noah Stryker, winner of the Birding Associations “Young birder of the year” award and fellow GAIAS student who made me realize that while they’re rather dumb, birds can still be pretty cool. Thanks Noah.

We traveled through the night and woke up to a new island every morning. Once I got over my sea-sickness I began to love being on a boat and decided I want to live on one for an extended period of time some day. I didn’t shower for four days, ate crackers with cheese and other bad things, and lay down on the deck looking at the stars at night. It’s a bit like camping, except you’re traveling while you sleep. And since camping and traveling are pretty much the two most exciting things in the whole world, a boat seems like a fine place to be to me.

On the trip I visited the islands of Rabida, N. Seymour, Bartholome, and Santiago. While these islands were uninhabited, there were a lot of invasive tourists on them as well. It’s funny when you realize that you yourself are an invasive tourist. It was difficult to snorkel with my still-sprained ankle. I can’t use fins, so I just have to rely on my superior swimming abilities, which are at times not all that superior. The best place to snorkel was off of Rabida, where I saw so many turtles I couldn’t count and played with some sea lions. The hikes took there toll on my ankle and by the time I got back I was pretty much back where I was when I sprained it 2 weeks ago. On top of that, I have parasites. Oh the joys of living abroad.

I got a job (shh) teaching little kids English. It’s not improving my Spanish much, but it feeds me. I have one month left in Galapagos, and there are so many things I still need to do. Diving, for example. I’m not ready to leave but at the same time I really am. The holiday season just isn’t the same without your family. All of us students are going to make the best of Thanksgiving, however, trying to substitute our traditional fare with Ecuadorian alternatives. This could be a challenge. On the list of things I won’t miss about Galapagos, which is very short, I’d have to say that food is way up at number one. If you ever decide to come to Ecuador, don’t expect anything of the food. Centered around rice and meat, it is perhaps the blandest food I’ve ever tasted.

That’s all for now, I will try to post some photos of Santa Cruz and the other islands, if my slow Galapagos connection allows.

Ciao!