Welcome to Galapagos

July 14
The OWP group traveled from Salem to Portland to Houston to Guayaquil. We arrived at our hotel about 2 in the morning and got up and left for the airport about 5 so we were a tired group at the Guayaquil airport in the morning. We had a 2 hour flight to Baltra where we waited for a bus to take us to a boat to travel about 3 hours to San Cristóbal where we will teach. The boat trip was extremely rough with all of us in raingear to avoid being swamped by the waves in the semi open boat. Just trying to readjust a life preserver was enough to dump Karen on the deck as we slapped the bow on waves created by the cross currents and heavy seas. David found out what not to do when he tried to use the head. The only method of movement was crawling across the deck and trying to get into the tiny space with waves pitching us all up and down proved too much. Two of us scrutinized Neptune´s trident up close as others held onto legs to avoid losing both of them into the waves. We rode past the rock used to hide the pirate ship in ¨Master and Commander.¨

Finally, we got to San Cristóbal , home of the Liceo Naval, the Navy school, and our home for a month. Wonderfully clear azure water lies in front of our hotel, once a family home . Our balconies overlook the sea and we can watch the sea lions playing in the water and the pelicans flying over, cruising for fish. Our delightful tour guide, Miguel Mosquera and his daughter, Carlita, have been with us every day, providing tours of the island and insider info on the best places to do wash, find internet connections and buy ice cream.

On Friday morning, we were invited to a lecture at San Francisco Universidad (part of the Universidad in Quito) about the conflict of managing tourism, conservation of the land and sea, and the needs of the local people. Afterwards, we went to the Liceo Naval and were formally greeted by the officials of the Liceo Naval and introduced to the student body. Middle school students presented a typical dance in costumes. Then we were taken by boat to another part of Baltra where we hiked miles over lava beds to see the endangered sea gulls, found only in the Galapagos, and marine iguanas sunning themselves on rocks. Around the iguanas, salt turned the rocks and iguanas´ heads white. They excrete the salt from the water through a gland in their noses. Puff! We also saw the famous blue footed boobies, whose feet match the color of the turquoise sea. In our group were the students from the University of Arizona, our teaching partners for the Liceo Naval. They will work with students in a research project, counting lava lizards and geckos to see what their populations include and what kinds of factors affect them. We will provide the English instruction and help them create field journals.

Today, Saturday, we left by boat about 7 am for a Galapaguera, an area where tortoises can be seen in their natural environment. We hiked in about 4 miles, over some lava rock, on sand trails, through native Galapagos cotton plants. Tortoises plopped in the middle of the trail and we had to step over them. When they pulled their heads inside their shells, we could hear an air sound, like Darth Vadar. The breeding area lay behind a large hill and when we reached it, sure enough, it was total tortoise love. In all, we saw 30 plus tortoises. Hiking back out, we were glad to have extra water on the four mile, dusty trail. The temperature was about 80 with the sun beating down on us. Back at the boat, we took off our dusty red shoes and socks, waded out to the boat and devoured lunch, sandwiches, bananas and extra water packed for us by Miguel. Our captain deftly piloted us through a narrow opening between two rocks the height of a 4 to 5 story building so we could see the red crabs and juvenile black ones scurrying up the rock walls. He then took us to a rocky shore where we saw the frigates. The males posture for one another with a display of a large ballooned red throat. Cooling off after our dusty hike, we snorkeled with the sea lions. The young ones came up to our masks and whisked around us, even trying to get into the boat.

More coming. Stay tuned for more adventures of the OWP troop.