Woke up at 4 this morning to a not so happy stomach but throughout the day I felt better. I was so sick this morning. We had to start our malaria medication which prevents you from getting malaria and it was not agreeing with me at all. We are heading back to Santa Cruz today and we took Brithanny 1 which was more open than the last one. I sat in the back of the boat in the open and just enjoyed the 2 hour boat ride back to Santa Cruz Island. We are staying at the Ninfa Hotel and we previously stayed here before we headed to Isabella. We headed to the Charles Darwin research center. It was down the street from our hotel we were staying at but since check in time wasn’t until 2 we decided to go explore. The research center is very well put together and very clean. When you are walking on the path to get to the center there is artwork everywhere. There is a piece made out of all plastic that resembles a whale. The art piece contains plastic water bottles, flip flops, bottle caps, fish netting and more. Charles Darwin is the reason why we know about the Galápagos Islands. He discovered evolution and why it happens and he studied the finches on the island which are known as Darwin’s finches. There is a turtle habitat here at the research center. They study the tortoises and relocate them into the wild so they can mate and keep growing the population. We went into a room that had Lonesome George. He was a pinta tortoise who was put in a habitat to mate with other tortoises but the process was not successful and soon George died. They have his body preserved in a room that is at a certain temperature so he does not decompose. You have to stand in the room for 2 min to let the temperature adjust. While walking around the museum we saw a different type of iguana that we haven’t seen and this one was yellow. Land Iguanas are a yellowish brown color with a more cylindrical tail. There are two subspecies of land iguanas that can grow up to 1.5 meters from head to tail. The research center has an array of pictures of the species Native to the land and when you walk in the front doors you will see a whale skeleton on display. They have a tortoise preserve for research to understand the species. After walking around the research center we all headed to the gift shop to buy some souvenirs. There was a computer near the door that lets you send an electronic postcard by email. I decided to create one for my mom and dad and then head back to the hotel. We had dinner and later on that night we had a presentation on the invasive species in the Galapagos by Sebastian Torres. Cats are an invasive species. They eat sea turtles and will attack the finches on the island and Iguanas. They are putting up rat traps with poison to kill the rats because they are disturbing the petral marine bird. 1,579 invasive species in the Galapagos. 52%- 825 arrived accidentally as contaminates or stowaways. 46%- 724 intentionally, 2% unknown. Island conservation is trying to plan a project into place to eradicate cats from the Floreana island. The project is going to happen in the next month, worried about local cattle and hope to negotiate to put their cattle into cages.Goats are a problem by crushing the tortoises shells and overgrazing. They are currently under control. Judas goats have killed more than 120,000 which is a world record for control of invasive species. Without the control of invasive species they will take over and start to kill things having them die off and then die off completely. Some conservation efforts here in the Galapagos are ABG, Galapagos national park directorate, Charles Darwin Foundation, Island conservation and FEIG. Each family is only allowed to have 4 pets and they must have collars on them to let people know they belong to someone. The pets must live in their owners properties. The laws are very strict here due to these issues such as invasive species. They can cause huge problems to places with such biodiversity. After the presentation we headed off to bed for our next adventurous day.
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Today we woke up roughly at 7:30am to get ready to get breakfast and head out. Our goal for the day was to go see Sierra Negra which is the second largest caldera in the world. The bus ride was a pretty bumpy ride to get there but didn’t take that long to arrive. The ride was about a 45 minute drive to our destination. When we left the hotel the weather was hot and humid and when we arrived at Sierra Negra the weather was cold and wet. It wasn’t freezing but cool enough to make you want to put a jacket on. The fog was intense walking up and the walk down. The hike was about 1 hour. Some species that we saw along the way while on our bus ride were donkeys, horses, cows and Darwin’s finches. A species that we were supposed to see was a short eared owl and a vermillion fly catcher.
When we arrived at Sierra Negra the view was breathtaking. The clouds were covering the caldera but after waiting about 10-15 minutes they cleared out and we got a great picture and videos of the view. The caldera erupted last year in 2018 and in 2005. In 2005 when it erupted it killed off a lot of plant species and life. After our hike we had lunch and we went back to the hotel for our next activity which was the bike ride to the wall of tears. The bike ride was about 1hour and 15 minutes. The bike ride had a very hard incline but a very nice descend on the way down. The wall of tears is a very sad known place. Prisoners were brought to the island but they didn’t have anything for them to do so they made them build this wall, they never finished the wall and it took 13 years to have the progress it did. Many people died from extreme heat, starvation, illness and exhaustion as well as dehydration. There are plaques around that talk about the story of why this wall is here and then a memory stone of all the lives that were lost. You were able to climb up stairs to overlook the wall from above and then continue to climb to overlook the town. The views were breathtaking this whole entire journey. After the day came to an end we all gathered in my hotel room to present the presentation on Chevron Texaco the oil company that is known for its abuse of power in Ecuador. Evan and I presented this presentation. Our presentation is posted on our website for anyone who is interested in learning what horror this company inflicted onto these people. Today we are heading to the island of Isabela. We all woke up at about 6am and headed to get some breakfast. Before we were able to leave the Island of Santa Cruz we had to stand in line for about 45 minutes to be checked by security to make sure our luggage did not have any illegal substances and invasive species. Our hiking boots were checked on the bottom and if any dirt remained on the bottoms we had to clean it off. Open food was not allowed on the boat to take to the island due to the fear of introduction of an invasive species and any illegal substances. After our luggage was checked we all got on a water taxi to get on our speed boat that was taking us to Isabela. The speed boat ride was about two hours long. Motion sickness is a real thing and you should take medication if you have it. The boat ride on Cally was very rough but when you fall asleep it goes by fast. Don't sit in the back of a boat if you are susceptible to motion sickness sit where you can breathe fresh air. When we arrived we saw tons of sea lions. They are a very lazy species, they barely move and they love the sun. When we arrived off of the boat I was very happy to see land and happy to not be on the boat anymore. We went to the hotel to change into swim attire for today's activities. We headed to the shop where we picked up our snorkeling gear and headed to get our kayaks and paddles down by the beach. Maddi was my kayaking partner and as we were paddling out you could see so deep below the water that's how clear it was. When you looked down you could see the sharks and sea turtles swimming underneath you as well as the Galapagos penguins. They were along the rocks as well as we were passing. We parked our kayaks and went snorkeling for a while and for the first time in my life I touched a shark and swam with them right next to me. We had to come back to shore after a while so we could go on our bike tour to the flamingo feeding grounds and the tortoise mating sanctuary by bike. The tortoises are sent here for mating purposes and rehab if one was injured in the wild they can place them here and help them get back on their feet to live on their own again. When we came back from the tour Greg took us down to the beach to watch the sunset and it was breathtaking. Later that night we had dinner and after dinner everyone met up in our room to present their presentations. Tonight's presentation was Jules and Jessica presenting The Galapagos Islands and Global Climate Change. Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. Climate change has a huge impact on our planet as a whole and the effects on the Galapagos island as well. Pollution is affecting the climate and is causing an impact on the flamingos and the population in Ecuador. Many residents on the Island suffer from non drinking water from the pollution and toxins that accumulate in the freshwater. Humans have a major impact on climate change by releasing fossil fuels and burning crude oil. The unpaved roads are worse than the paved roads and when the roads are cemented the release carbon dioxide. Climate change is affecting us all and not for the better. After Jess and Jules presentation we were all ready for bed to get up the next day to start the adventure.
We all up today to have a nice breakfast and an array of sorts. Had some fresh homemade orange juice, dishes of fruits and they had rice and beans and chicken set out with the breakfast servings as well. After breakfast we departed from our hotel to the airport to get on a plane( La Tame) to go to the Galapagos islands. Leaving to Baltra to get on a water taxi to go to the island of Santa Cruz to start our journey of more fun adventures. When you arrive at the airport there is no terminal you are just walking off the plane to the outside walking into the building. You will stand in line with everyone else to wait your turn to pay your entrance fee for the island. We took a bus to the port to get on the boat to take us to Santa Cruz where we got on our bus to take us around the island on our way to see the tortoises.
On our water taxi taking us to the island baltra to go to Santa Cruz for the first time ever in my life I saw Blue Footed Boobies. They are a species of bird that has blue webbed feet. They don’t have many predators so if you approach one they don't run away as frantically as other birds. We did not come into contact with more blue footed boobies the rest of the trip. They had their young in between their legs and they were basking in the sun. On our ride to the sanctuary we saw tons of fruit trees along the way on the sides of the roads. Guava trees, orange trees, mango and cuban trees. The cuban trees are invasive and cause more harm than good. The name of the tortoise sanctuary is the El Chato Ranch when we were walking around the sanctuary the rule is that you must be 6ft away from any species on the galapagos at all times you must not get in a range where the animal feels endangered and acts out. Your injuries that you would receive are due to you not due to the animal. The other rule with coming into contact with these species is you must not use flash. The island is very eco friendly and does not use plastic. Plastic bags and bottles are not allowed on the island. You must have a reusable water bottle. Before our lunch break we were walking around the sanctuary while Jonathen our guide taught us an abundance amount of knowledge about the tortoises. The tortoises can live past their life span, you can tell which one is a male and female by the shape of their shell and the design on their shell. They hiss when people get too close to them they sense the danger that might be around them. When they hiss they exhale air and then inhale more air to hide their heads in their shell for protection. They can sleep for 2 weeks and they sleep with their hands spread out on the ground, when predators are coming they are able to react quickly from feeling them near and their vibrations. Their mouths can break your bones in seconds. When they are young their young are born they send them on their way just like sea turtles. While at the sanctuary we visited lava cove which is a tunnel that was formed by the lava flowing through. The tunnel is under ground and over a period of time the tunnel is going to collapse due to the amount of water that is being collected in the soil and how the structure is not sturdy. No signs of life were seen inside this tunnel. When we were done looking around and observing the scenery of the sanctuary we had lunch and after lunch we got back on our bus to take us to our hotel. Isabela will be presenting to us at night about her current project she is working on in Ecuador. Isabela has been working since 2018, She got her college degree in Spain and Australia. She lives in Ecuador to study the ocean and the water of the Galapagos islands. In 2018 she went to ocean acidification school which is what she is studying. Her research is being collected and then her data is being transferred over to provide the national park with information and data. She travels to all different islands in the Galapagos to test the ph levels in the different plumes. For her research she sets up 5 points around in different locations but not too far apart but not too close. Her points are about 50 miles away, center, north, south, east and west. They dive to study the PH, dissolving organic carbon, total colinety. Her program is Ocean Acidification monitoring program: 20/30% CO2 in the ocean. Sea urchins, corals and fish.The reaction of the CO2 makes the PH go lower the PH level is 8.3 on the island it is 7.9. They dive to study the ph level dissolving organic carbon, total colinety. The last trip that she went on was the Navy ship of Ecuador. She talked about some invasive species in her lecture and one was the elephant plant and the other was the fly that eats mangroves brains. Her 10 years are almost up and she soon will have to leave Ecuador to go somewhere else to study. This morning we woke up to go downstairs to have breakfast. We headed back to the room together as a group to listen to hayleys presentation of tourism and conservation in the Galapagos. Tourism continues to increase in Ecuador especially in the Galapagos causing pros and cons throughout. In 1832 the island was under ownership under the spanish empire. Tourists began to arrive on cruise ships, the Charles Darwin research center opened, this increased hotel vessels by 10x so tourism grew and became more popular. In the 80’s to the 2000’s as cruise ship numbers rose form 40-80 Ecuadorians began to migrate to the Galapagos to find work. Tourism made the number start to grow but so did economic and political issues also made those numbers rise in the Galapagos. When you arrive at the airport to get onto the Galapagos islands you must pay an entrance fee of $100. They are considering increasing that fee to $250 to stop so many people from coming to the islands where there is a max capacity of how many people should be on these islands. There are some major concerns in regards to the Galapagos. The island is starting to fill up and it is filling up quickly, the population is 30,000. 80% of the people live around the ports for when tourists arrive they can sell their goods.
There are alot of shops owned by the people there and they will try to sell you things even if you weren't planning on buying it. The Fresh water is in Short supply for the people of the Galapagos islands, while we were driving around in the town there are blue barrels in some yards that they fill up every once in a while and rain water is collected as well for drinking, cooking and bathing. Many tourists go to the Islands for sight seeing as well as other things. Some activities include biking, hiking and water activities. After we listened to haylees presentation we got all of our stuff prepared to head to JFK airport to get on our plane and head to Ecuador! When we arrived at the airport we got ourselves checked in for our flight. The process was not that long considering there was no line for Jet blue. After we got ourselves checked in we checked our luggage and went over to security. Considering this part takes the longest in airports you are going to want to arrive early to make sure there is no chance of you missing your flight. When we got ourselves secured and through security we headed to our gate to await our boarding time. A Lot of us wandered around the airport to find some food and snacks for the flight as well getting some last minute items that might be needed for the trip.Long plane ride. Flew from JFK to Guayaquil Ecuador. The duration of the flight was 6 hours and 30 minutes. We are headed to our hotel to have some dinner and check in. The dinner was risotto and it was amazing. We ate dinner at the hotel across the street from ours. In Ecuador mostly every meal is served with some kind of fresh fruit juice. After dinner we went back to our hotel to properly meet Diego our guide and listen to his presentation. Diego is from Cuenca and travels all over the world for pleasure as well as work. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to his country and what people should know about it. Ecuador and Brazil preserve their ecosystems and care about the environment. There are 21 marine ecosystems and 27 in the whole world and the Galapagos has 21. Before Ecuador became so small it used to have part of Brazil as well but there was a fight that took place and Brazil being the bigger country they won and bought what they wanted. The Galapagos islands are 1,000km away from the coast of Ecuador. The known languages in Ecuador is spanish as well as Keitra and Shaul in the Amazon rainforest. We are heading to the galapagos tomorrow. They teach people in their communities to buy land and protect species of birds. When it comes to the Amazon rainforest if the money doesn't exist the future doesn’t exist. Many people in Ecuador don’t have as many health problems as we do in the US because their food is not genetically modified. They grow many crops by hand and in the field with other workers or just themselves maintaining their crops and keeping them well kept for when it is time to harvest. If you look around you will notice not many Ecuadorians have disabilities and this is because they are natural in how they take care of themselves and what they put into their bodies. When I was here and eating the food it was changing my body drastically. We are heading to bed now for a long day that awaits ahead as well as an early morning. We will be travelling to the Galapagos Islands on la Tame at 10:30am. The flight duration is about 2 hours. Today we embark on our journey to Ecuador. I am filled with emotions of excitement and worry. I am slightly nervous because this is such a new place and I have only stayed in resorts before. I’ve never done anything like this besides when I went to Italy. We have a couple presentations tonight when we get to the hotel. We are headed to New York to stay at Spring Hill Marriott and then in the morning wake up to get on our flight to Ecuador. We were provided with a lot of pizza for dinner.
Greg Fischer our Ta for this trip is going to present his information that he researched about how Earthquakes happen and how volcanoes formed over a period of time and to this day. He mentioned in his powerpoint that there are three kinds of plates : the convergent plate(come together), divergent(come apart) and transform(side to side) ; these three plates make up how volcanoes are formed and why earthquakes take place. Earthquakes happen from two masses of rock trying to move past each other at faults. There are three different kinds of volcanoes in the world and they are stratovolcanoes, cinder cone volcanoes, shield volcanoes. When we arrive at the Galapagos islands which is what I will be talking about here soon we will see these formations of volcanoes. We can not accurately predict earthquakes. Since we will be travelling to Ecuador we will be in a seismic area where earthquakes occur all the time. Earthquakes and volcanoes have caused some major catastrophe over years with high magnitudes and mass explosions. Maddi and Lauren are going to present their presentation on the Galapagos islands and Biodiversity in the Amazon. The Galapagos island is known to have such diversity due to the endemic species that live here. Some species you will see don't exist anywhere else in the world and only on these islands as well as the Amazon. There are 12 islands on the Galapagos islands. Charles Darwin was a known scientist who traveled to Ecuador by ship to notice that there was life throughout the island and wanted to know how it arrived there. He stayed and did research on the birds that he saw that are known as Darwin's Finches. There are 13 endemic finches on these islands. If you look closely at the species none of them have small beaks. They all have medium sized beaks so they can survive. There are many threats to the island such as climate change, eutrophication, deforestation, pollution, overfishing, invasive species. The largest island is Isabela and the second largest is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is known for its tourism and the only island with the longest paved roads are about 48 miles. Throughout my Journey you will learn more about why Ecuador is so important and why more people should know about it and go and visit. |
AuthorMy name is Taylor Patterson I am 22 years old and I am a world traveler as well as an Environmental scientist in the making. Here I will be posting my 15 day experience with you over in Ecuador with my fellow classmates. ArchivesCategories |