Learning and Lovin' Life on San Cristóbal

The ride from Isabela to San Cristóbal on Saturday morning was pretty much the roughest boat ride I have ever been on. Popping food and Dramamine consistently throughout the ride to prevent me from emptying my insides into the Pacific, I can honestly say I made it throughout the 5 hour ride without much problem. I only have a few words of advice: DO NOT attempt to use a bathroom at the (front) of a boat in the middle of the ocean. Whether the boat is moving or not. Unless, of course, you want to get thrown up against the walls of the bathroom.

Although it’s now over, I’ve come to realize Mountain Geology has made me push myself to the limits of my abilities numerous times. From feeling as though I may need knee replacement surgery while hiking Quilotoa to restricting the amount of oxygen to my brain (which I believe I still have side effects from time to time) and having to be evacuated at Cotopaxi; I got one of the worse sunburns in my life (the layers of skin won’t stop peeling) and I came pretty close to smashing my face on that sharp ‘aa’ rock on Isabela. Although scary at times (especially Cotopaxi), these experiences have all made me a stronger and more well equipped individual for life on San Cristóbal and whatever new adventures my future professors decide to throw at me.

Post 25km mud run on Isabela. Still smiling! :-)

San Cristóbal is an amazing place full of beautiful beaches, animals in their natural habitats, great places to snorkel and scuba, hiking trails, cute shops, great restaurants, and locals (can’t forget about the 6,000 locals on the islands, especially the awesome guides). My school is basically on a beach (only separated by a road) with numerous sea lions lying around. I can watch the bull swim along the shore calling out to protect his territory from where I sit on the balcony. Darwin’s finches fly in and out of the building or land directly in front of my laptop, looking at me with inquisitive eyes; most likely wondering what I’m doing on his/her island.

 The view from uni. Distracting, right?

Sunday night I got to watch my first sunset while sitting with my feet in the sand as a group of blue footed boobies were feeding; these graceful birds (larger than I thought they would be) would disappear into the waves before the setting sun.

As 97% of the Galápagos Islands are a National Park you’re not allow to disturb anything. As a guest on the islands, you’re not allowed to wander around or go between islands without a guide. Well, I can for the most part because I live here with a student visa (and I’ve befriended a few guides who share similar interests as I do). As the guides are certified by the park most are very knowledgeable of their land.

Mama and Baby

A baby sea lion was born monday morning; I can hear him/her from where I sit on the balcony of uni. The babies are the cutest little things and the mamas seem very protective over them.

Monday involved a trip to the highlands where I climbed orange trees and collected them with my newfound friends. The vegetation in the highlands can be very lush and dense, unlike the coast yet still magical in its own way. It seems as though curiosity of humans has rubbed off on most animals, as the baby cows in the nearby field were more interested in me than I them. Although the mosquitos along the coast are slim to none (at least for me), going into the highlands can be a bit rough. I've been told they're not native to the islands, but from the amazon. This makes me want to kill those super aggressive suckers even more. 

Tuesday was an awesome day, as I was brought to this cliff where I watched seven different bird species flying all around me. Getting there was fun because the ‘trail’ is not really a trail; you just climb over sharp aa lava rock, trying to avoid the gigantic marine iguanas and their spit. The iguanas blend in with the aa rock, making it difficult for someone like me to spot them, so I usually don’t see them until I’m about to step on a 2 ½ foot-long iguana.

Along the cliff swallow tail gulls swooped gracefully over my head, as the dinosaur-like frigate birds soared overhead, and the blue-footed and masked boobies flew by, diving into the water every once in a while for a fish. These small tropicbirds fly by really fast, wings flapping like mad, and I was told that they do this because they are horrible at landing, haha. So they keep flying around in large circles until the wind is just right for landing. Goodness, I would not want to reincarnate as that bird.

Laying on the beach til 2am Tuesday night, just watching the stars and listening to the sea lions, was a wonderfully peaceful experience. Until, of course, a ‘kid’ sea lion runs up to you, stops less than 5 ft from you, and just stares at you. The first time it totally freaked me out and by the third time I didn’t even notice until one was practically standing directly above me. What’s even freakier is when the bull comes charging up the beach chasing another male. That’ll make you move out of the way. My evenings are starting to be spent enjoying the beach while dodging the alpha male. I’m not really sure what he would do, but I don’t really care to find out.

I went snorkeling for the first time EVA on Wednesday after class. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Swimming in the ocean with all these fish and sea turtles is a liberating experience. I felt as though I was able to leave all my ties to the geosphere behind and enter another world. The fish are brightly colored with strips, spots, whathaveyou, and the sea turtles swim gracefully around you as you try to get a better look. I’m looking into getting my scuba certification on the island in order to take day scuba trips to various locations.

On Friday most of the GAIAS group met at a local bar/restaurant to watch The National Ecuador team beat Chile (wootwoot!). Watching these games are always an experience. It seems Ecuadorians start rooting for the goal points even before the ball has reached the goal, and if the goal is missed they sit down real slow with their arms still in the air, then look around and talk to each other about how that goal should have been made. It’s difficult not to laugh sometimes.

There’s a native tail that I’ve been told about the guava on the island, which is an invasive species (it’s all over the place, damn). The founder of the Galápagos islands loved guava, so he brought many trees here from the mainland, but only for himself to consume. At one point a boy somehow got into the guava and was to be killed for stealing the fruit. The boy’s mother begged to have a lesser punishment, and when refused, basically cursed the island and all of it’s future inhabitants: the guava tree will take over the island, and anyone that eats the fruit will either never leave, or if they do, will return to the archipelago. Well, I love these islands, and I really love San Cristóbal. I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten maybe 20+ guava so far, because although I must leave at the end of my 90 days here (any non-local without a job here is only allowed to stay for 90 days out a 12-month period), I’d really love to return for a much longer period of time. I’ve recently received an email from my Mom telling me I can’t live in the Galápagos b/c it would be a pain in the butt for her to travel here to visit me, haha.

 You may be wondering…I thought Laleña was there to study…well, you’re right! My current class is Phylogenetics. I’m honestly not sure what the lectures are about b/c we just seem to be talking about phylogenetic trees: different kinds, how to read them, ect. The main learning experience for the class (I’m pretty sure) is a 2 week long project involving genetic mapping of 2 genes of a species, using 7 or 8 programs that I’ve had to download from the internet (my computer wasn’t really too happy after that), and formulate a tree for that species and its closest relatives. During the third week of class a presentation and paper will be presented to the class of our findings. I’ve been on the GenBank website a lot this week doing gene research for sea lions, although the view of the crystal clear water from the uni balcony is quite distracting. Seriously though, I’m enjoying my class and my Ecuadorian professor with the Scottish accent.

Classes here are rally laid back. You can show up with barefoot with beach clothes and no one will look at you twice. This is good b/c many of us cross the street to the nearest beach after class. I live less then a 10 minute walk to uni. I can actually walk from one side of town to the other in less than 30 minutes, and rarely ever take a taxi unless I'm going to the highlands.  The house I live in is comfortable and my new host family are very nice. My host parents are more like grandparents, as I may actually be the youngest of 12-14 host siblings and sibling in-laws. Although only maybe 5 of us sleep in my host parents apartment, many more congregate in the open living space, and I've become a favorite of two of my nieces: a 10-month old and an 8-year old. My feelings towards them are mutual.