Arianna and I spend 5 weeks on the Galapagos Islands. 4 of those we were volunteers on the Island San Cristobal.
We lived here with 10 other volunteers. And yes that's a horse mowing the lawn.
We were lucky to be with the same group for most of the time and all became close. 3 Americans, 3 Norwiegans, 2 Japanese, 1 Polish, 1 German, and the only guy Nick from Sweden!
Hacienda Tranquila, where we worked, was about 15 minutes from town and up in the highlands and rained almost every day.
Our main goal was restoration of natural habitat.
Which meant a lot of macheting invasive species like mora, or black berries
And planting natural species. Mostly a special plant that turtles eat to try and one day return them to this part of the island.
When it would rain, which happened quite often, we would sit around cleaning seeds or peeling coffee beans.
Certain days were spend helping the community lay a new water pipeline.
These were the hardest days by far.
And these were the funnest days. Every friday a school bus would bring kids up to the highlands. It was like going to the country.
We'd play games
Take them for horseback rides
This kid was soo sweet and so smart. And he looks just like one of our Colombians Leonardo!
The kids all loved Nic and were fascinated by cameras.
It usually wore them out. In the afternoons we'd sometimes go to town and help at their school, pulling weeds or moving things or whatever they needed.
This girl just curled up in my lap and didn't leave all day.
Our free time was spend mostly hanging out. Sometimes we'd go on horseback rides up to a ridge, if we weren't sore from riding them for work. We listened to music and talked. I loved hearing about the other cultures, especially Japanese.
On weekends we'd rent a taxi and see other parts of the island.
Mostly we'd go to town and get groceries, use the internet and go to the beach. The taxi's were all trucks and it was 4 dollars one way no matter how many people you brought so we tried to car pool at all costs.
Team USA!
While I was there I got my Scuba Diving certification! Our class was Suza from Germany, Hannah from Washington D.C. ( Just a real quick side note, When you say you're from the US they ask what state and usually know of the big ones like New York or California, not so much Nebraska, haha. But when I would say Washington they get all excited and be like 'el capital'! and I'd try to explain that no the state and they'd usually get confused and just nod. Than Hannah came along who is from the capital and people couldn't understand that we lived on opposite sides of the country). Anyways and here is Alfonzo from Argentina who also took the class with us! Hilarious guy.
Scuba diving is awesome and pretty simple and we became great friends with all the workers at the dive shop. We watched 6 videos and discussed, did some worksheets and than took the final test! We had four practice dives, two of which were in the worlds smallest pool which was also the only one at the island and than two real dives. One was to a ship wreck in the harbor that was so cool and the entire time a sea lion swam with us eating or bubbles and playing with us. It's a crazy feeling breathing underwater and swimming with the fish. We went on another trip that took us to the hot spot called 'Kicker Rock' where we saw sting rays, mana rays, turtles, lots of fish and SHARKS! It was so cool. Unfortunately I didn't have my underwater camera when we went scuba diving but here are some of Nic's pictures.
One of the most incredible sights.
Most people visit the Galapagos and take a cruise docking at each island for a day or two. Huge groups would get off these boats and walk around all the shops and beaches, but never venture more than that. It was amazing to really get to know the island and people.
Like practically everytime we went to town we would get Batidos, which is milk blended with your choice of fruit, at this same place and chitchat with the owner and watch the new batch of tourists walk by. People began to notice we weren't tourists and started to be a little nicer.
After our four weeks were up we decided to visit some of the other islands. To get to the them we had to take speed boats like these and let me tell you its one bumpy ride. Imagine two hours of crashing over waves at least half the boat puking. Always an adventure.
We toured huge craters and Lava tunnels
Did you know that there are red bananas?
This was one of the coolest places ever. All hardened lava and beautiful shallow pools.
Can you say perfect?
Ten bucks a night for this view. Amazing.
Now lets talk about the reason the Galapagos are famous. This is where Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution which influenced the way many people view our existence. They are also famous for the unique wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world. These animals aren't afraid of humans either! So besides the one's I saw scuba diving here are some of the other incredible animals.
There are so many iguanas they need a sign
Can you say huge tortoises.
Turtle! And keep in mind there's no zoom on a underwater camera.
This is Lars, He came out from behind the mirror every night. Turns out he laid some eggs so we finally decided to let him go.
Flamingos! So awesome!
And she doesn't wear a small size either.
Blue footed boobies really do exist!
Sting rays!
Sea Lion pup
Sea lion like to sleep in crowds.
And my absolute favorite: PENGUINS!
They weren't scared at all. We could of touched them if we wanted.
They are so fast in the water.
How many people can say they've swam with penguins in the wild?
Galapagos. A must see.
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