Ecuador 2015

Merazonia!

All in all, my internship was amazing. I meet great people from all around the world and work closely with amazing animals. I was sad to go and contemplated telling Joe and Cath that me and Kylie had simply gone missing in the jungle haha!

Adventures in Quito

Between exams, class and preparing to leave for our internships, we were able to have some fun in Quito. We were able to catch a soccer game, go out in the Mariscal district, go to an art museum, and explore Old Town and La Ronda.

Snorkeling at Las Tijeretas on San Cristobal!

Life on Isla San Cristobal

Sea lions pretty much run the place on Isla San Cristobal.

Island life generally consisted of eating a lot of fried foods, snorkeling or swimming on most days, getting used to sea lions being the island equivalent of squirrels, and devouring an ice cream cone or two everyday. We had lecture once a day learning about different marine communities, sustainable fishing practices and conservation of marine ecosystems. We also conducted a marine research project (ours being about the difference in abundance and diversity of echinoderms in heavily human-impacted areas and less impacted areas), registered for next semester’s classes, wrote a grant proposal, took an underwater field exam, sadly watched Wisconsin lose to Duke, and partied it up with the GAIAS kids (fellow students at the college). Overall I enjoyed my time on the island, but I realized I’m not cut out for island life (too hot and too sandy). After our two weeks were up, we departed from the airport on Santa Cruz (not before we had a farewell ice cream treat) back to our homes in Quito.

A couple more photos of the Galapagos cruise!

For our final day we visited a small sea lion rookery on San Cristobal before heading to the malecón to meet our new host families. It was sad to say goodbye to my family after spending such an amazing adventure with them. I met my host family and we piled my luggage on her moped and sped away on her tiny moped.

More from Española!

More pictures from Española!

Española was one of my favorite islands that we visited. We first visited Punta Súarez, where you risked treading on an animal of some kind whenever you put your foot down. The island is populated by sea lions, boobies, uniquely green and pink marine iguanas (that only occur on this island), and an extensive marine community. We were fortunate to also see a Galapagos tortoise and the first arrivals of the population of waved albatross that nest on the island. After hiking around the island for a while, we traveled to Bahía Gardner, a beach on the island frequented by sea lions. The sea lions were lined up on the beach basking in the sun and rolling around in the waves. As you can see from the pictures, sea lions have a pretty lax lifestyle (can you say new life goals?). After taking many pictures of the adorable blobs, we spent a while snorkeling before heading back to the boat.

More pictures from Floreana!

We started our day with Post Office Bay. The post office box there used to be used by passing ships. Nowadays, visitors to Post Office Bay bring postcards that they want to send to the box. If you are headed back to your home country soon, you are supposed to look through the cards left there and pick out ones in your area to bring back. I dropped off a couple postcards and I’m excited to see when (if ever) they get delivered! We visited one of coolest snorkeling spots today, Devil’s Crown. Formed by a volcanic crater, the shallow bottom is home to a thriving coral reef. We saw sharks, sea lions, sea turtles, and tons of fish and other critters. So cool! After that, we headed to Punta Cormorant, a peaceful beach kept pristine for sharks, rays, nesting sea turtles and other wildlife. We spent some time observing animals for a field activity and looking at larval nudibranchs and sea urchins. After a beautiful sunset, we motored back to the Aida Maria.

More pictures from Santa Cruz!

Today was a totally terrestrial day. We started by heading back into the town of Puerto Ayora. A little ways into the city, they had a small fish market that mostly served as a tourist attraction because the begging seals and pelicans that gathered there. After snapping a few photos, we walked to the Charles Darwin station, where they breed and raise Galapagos tortoises to try and conserve their populations throughout the islands. We learned about the history and biology regarding the gentle giants and got to see them at various ages throughout the station. After we were done, we spent some time walking around the town before boarding a bus and heading into the highlands of the island. In the highlands, we visited a farm that had wild tortoises living on the grounds. We found the beasts lumbering around and viewed several attempts of failed tortoise procreation. We were also able to explore an old lava tunnel before heading back to the Aida Maria.