Days 80 - 82: Charles Darwin Research Station

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Today was our free day on Isabela. I got up to have breakfast at the hotel at 8, did some stuff around the hotel, and headed to the beach at about 9:30. Shawna, Rachel, Katie, Sam, and I just hung out there either reading, sleeping, or listening to music. I did a little of all three. It was just very chill. At noon we went back to the hotel for lunch, then waited for our food to digest a bit before going snorkeling. We walked over to this bay area by the pier where all the boats tie up to snorkel. I guess they had seen some pretty cool stuff this morning so we were going to try again. Unfortunately, the tide was out so it was impossible to get to some of the areas because rocks were exposed and we had no way of getting over or around them. It was really weird too because there was an extreme thermocline right near the surface that made visibility poor. In order to see anything I had to dive down below the surface because the surface was obscured by the thermocline. It was a really cool example of warm estuary water mixing with cold ocean water though. Shawna and I swam around for a while, saw lots of fish and rays and then headed back to town.

The two of us went to the beach for a short while, but since the sun was behind clouds and it was windy we got kind of cold and went back to the hotel. There, Sam, Rachel, Katie, and Shawna watched Hercules on my computer while I laid in a hammock listening to Harry Potter #7 on my ipod. Eventually, once we had all showered, the 5 of us decided to skip dinner at the hotel (who wants more fish and rice and beans?) and go get pizza. We got pizza at the Pinguino restaurant which was absolutely delicious, then split an ice cream cake. It was delicious, but it took a lot of force to cut it! The guy brought out a huge knife for us once he saw we weren’t getting anywhere with our butter knives and even then it still took the force of Rachel and Shawna to cut through it. It was definitely worth it though.

After finishing our huge, fatty meal, we went back to the hotel to hang out before going out to the bar. Back at the hotel several people had gotten coconuts from local yards and shucked them with Tom’s machete. Then they all proceeded to carve holes in them, pour rum in, and drink a rum and coconut milk concoction through a straw. It was pretty sweet and I think we are going to try that again when we get back to San Cristobal. Jon, Katie, Rachel, and I went to Sea Lion, a bar out on a pier, to get drinks. It was so amazingly peaceful and serine out there, sitting in hammocks and staring out at the waves with the wind blowing through our hair. Just writing about it makes me realize how fake it sounds because it is just like a fantasy; it doesn’t seem real or possible. We eventually left Sea Lion and found most of our group hanging out on the beach. We convinced everyone to come to Beto’s bar where we started our own party. I ended up leaving after about 10 or 15 minutes because my stomach was killing me.

Back at the hotel I tried to fall asleep but didn’t sleep well because I felt sick all night. The next morning the Marine Ecology and People/Politics students had breakfast at 6 am and left for the pier at 6:30am. They had a 5 hour speedboat ride back to San Cristobal. Our breakfast was scheduled for 7 am, with departure from the hotel to be at 10 am.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

After breakfast I packed my stuff then laid a hammock until it was time to go with the kitten that Lindsey had found the night before. It was so cute, but probably weighed less than a pound and was in desperate need of its mother’s milk. Unfortunately, tuna and warm milk was all Lindsey could find to give it.

Once we went through inspection at the dock to make sure we weren’t transporting any produce, seeds, or animals, etc to another island we were able to boar the boat. I looked for my bathing suit top which got lost on it last week, but I am sure they threw it away because I know it was there when we left the boat but supposedly wasn’t by the time we got a hold of them the next day by phone. Oh well, que sera sera. I just hope that my bathing suits are in San Cristobal when I get back otherwise I’m S.O.L. and have to make my 6-year-old bathing suit last another month and a half. The next 3 hours consisted of most people trying to sleep to keep from feeling sea sick; that plan was unsuccessful however because the seas were so choppy that we were all airborne every 5 minutes with constant bumping up and down between what felt like going off ski jumps.

On the dock at Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, who should be there but yet another guy from San Cristobal whom I really didn’t want to see. We met Diana, Gunter’s assistant, and headed to the hotel. Diana also happens to work at Mockingbird Café and is Katie’s host mom/sister/person. Luckily we were staying at the nicer hotel on Santa Cruz. I got a room with Danielle, Sam, Katie D, and Stephanie. My bed is awful – the springs and coils poke out so much it feels like I am sleeping on a sack filled with rocks. At least I am dry and free of sand though! Since it was lunch time, after settling into the hotel Danielle, Katie, Sam, and I went off to find lunch. We ended up eating at The Rock and had some of the best food ever. I got a tuna salad wrap that was mouth watering and about the size of Texas, Sam and Danielle got quesadillas, and Katie got a hamburger. Once finished with our huge meals Danielle and I went back to the hotel to nap. I think I ended up napping for almost 3 hours…

Eventually dinner time rolled around (yes my life does revolve around eating…) and Sam, Katie, and I went in search of something that wasn’t rice, fish, or beans. We ended up eating at an Italian restaurant; Katie got a salad, Sam had lasagna, and I had pesto. It was absolutely delicious and we all concurred that today was a good day. After dinner we meandered a bit, got soft serve for dessert, and went back to the hotel where we were informed that we had about 100 pages of reading to do for tomorrow. Mind you, by this time it was already 10:30 pm, and I was not about to read 100 pages. After skimming a few of them and realizing it was stuff we already had learned I chose to go to sleep so I wouldn’t be tired in the morning.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Breakfast was at the hotel today at 7 am. It actually turned out to be decent: they gave us a hard-boiled egg, bread (that was actually good), cheese, mora juice, and coffee (fake coffee). We had to be at class at 8:30 am, but had to walk there so we left around 8. Having class at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands is pretty sweet, let me tell you. It felt almost magical as we were walking through the National Park grounds and the Station, which sounds super nerdy but as a science geek I was really excited to be there. Scientists from around the world would kill to visit, and I get to have class there for a week straight with a Professor who worked at the Station for several years as an important head figure. Gunter Reck, a very German man, is cool and not quite as strict and scary as everyone had been portraying him. Class is definitely different from my previous three because he just kind of talks at us with power points that sort-of correspond to what he is rambling about but not really…

We took a break about half-way through class and got snacks from the tienda and then got a tour of the tortoise breeding center. First we saw the little tortoises that they are breeding from different islands, including Isla Espanola, Isla Santiago, and more. It was weird that they were all moving around, and kind of fast too! Then came the big show: Lonesome George. He was so cool! And he has a saddle-back shell so he looks very different from the others, and he was actually moving around his enclosure pretty fast. For being more than 100 years old (or so they think) he moves well. A guy came into feed him and the other two females that were in his enclosure and they all knew it was food time. They practically came running to get the food, and George even chased one of them away when she was cramping his feeding area. I think we all could have stayed and watched forever, but Gunter made us move on to see some other tortoises.

We saw some big ones from Espanola, Santiago, and other islands too I think. There were also a few land iguana enclosures from the land iguana breeding program. That program has essentially been discontinued now because it was successful, but they still have a few iguanas at the station. There is also a path that you can walk through and get within inches of the tortoises. These ones are by far the largest I have seen yet, and Gunter said there are some that a even bigger. They must weigh 500 lbs at least! Then we had to go back to class where I had to struggle to stay awake. Around noon class ended and we walked to lunch which was back at Tintoreras. We got cream of tomato soup, which was a great disappointment compared to Campbell’s, and a choice between spaghetti and grilled chicken. I got spaghetti and it was kind of crappy so that was a disappointment.

Back at the hotel I took a nap – surprise surprise – and didn’t really do anything productive before dinner. Sam and I went to the Galapagos Jewelry store so she could get more things, and then we headed to dinner. I had fish with French fries and a “salad”. I cannot tell you how much I am craving a real salad right now, with ranch dressing. Ranch dressing does not exist in Ecuador and I am super upset about that. It is essential to sandwiches, fries, pizza, salads, and I’m sure I can think of something else to put ranch on. I think if someone were to give me a bottle of it right now I could probably drink the entire thing.

Sam and I walked around a bit and went to the movie store. I ended up buying The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Rescuers Down Under, Freedom Writers, The Pursuit of Happiness, Moulin Rouge, Bowling for Columbine, and No Reservations. They all worked except No Reservations which I have to go back to exchange. After spending probably an hour at the store we went back to the hotel where a group of people watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the boys’ room, and Steph and I went to bed early.