Back to the Mainland!

Well, here I am. Back on the mainland. The return flight to Quito was easy, except my seat wouldn't go back so of course I got a kink in my neck which did nothing for the compression injury I got from my last boat ride coming back from Santa Cruz. Remember that first boat ride that I took from Isabela to San Cristobal back in October? The one that lasted 5 hours and caused PTSD? Yeah. A choppy ocean and sitting in the front of the boat creates spinal compression injuries. Just so you know. 

The marine iguanas are currently displaying these amazing
color patterns due to the breeding season

The past two weeks have been spent soaking up the sun, swimming with the lobos and tortugas, and really just enjoying my life and the wonderful people who are a part of it. I wrapped up my final paper and presentation on Monday, which gave me two whole days to do whatever I wanted to, which was really absolutely nothing. Well, I did watch the townspeople celebrate Barcelona becoming Ecuador's 2012 'Campeon' in futbol and while I was at the loberia a Darwin's finch landed on my chest for about ten seconds before flying off. Now that totally made my day. 

Kristen arrived to my island on Tuesday, and not only did she meet Jairo but she and I got to spend 10 wonderful minutes together before her guide Billy whisked her off to the Galapagos Queen. Sounds cool, right? I saw her catamaran in the pier and it was pretty cool looking. She'll be arriving in Quito on Tuesday. 

Arriving in a large city after living on a fairly small island is definitely overwhelming. My major modes of transportation have gone from boats and my legs to large buses and crazy NYC-like taxi drivers that think it's perfectly okay to fly down Simon Blvd at 90 kph. Last night GAIAS had a farewell dinner for the students and our professors. It was great to get together one last time before everyone started heading to the airport. The first rich meal we’d had in months, and although it was delicious, I think a few people had some stomach issues because of it.

Last sunset on the Galapagos

San Cristobal

There's alot going in the next 4 weeks. Today I flew to Cuenca where I will be staying til Tuesday, when I meet Kristen back in Quito. She and I will head to Santiago on December 23rd, with a nice long layover in Bogota. Afterwards we will slowly make our way up the Chilean costa to Peru. Get ready for more amazing adventures!