Critters

In the third grade I did a project on birds and, through my research, I across the blue-footed booby. Aside from the particularly hilarious name, what drew my attention were the beautiful photographs of enormous colonies performing unique mating dances in some far off place called the Galapagos Islands. This was a turning point in my life where I held this place as a vacation ideal above all others. When I found out that I would be in Peru, just an overnight bus ride from the jump off point for a Galapagos adventure, I set my mind to making this vacation happen when my parents came to visit me. Since my family prioritizes wildlife watching over most other activities when we go on vacation, they weren't too difficult to convince that this was the perfect vacation idea to follow up their visit to my Peace Corps site. In fact, I cannot think of a better motivation for working on environmental education and management in South America than seeing such a surreal example of the human/nature interface and the potential for generating appreciation for the unique qualities of each place.

The trip started off with a long, somewhat daunting bus ride from Northern Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador for our departure to the Galapagos. I had planned this part of the journey with the mindset of bringing my parents into my world of backpacker traveling. The bus was okay but not the "super VIP" overnight bus that I had introduced them to on our trip from Lima to my site. We were awoken at 3 in the morning for customs, 4 in the morning for Ecuadorian immigration, and 4:30 for a passport check by armed Ecuadorian soldiers. Needless to say, we were all a little on edge after being awoken in a creepy border town by men with automatic weapons. Once we got to Guayaquil, we finally left the world of a Peace Corps volunteer and checked into the Sheraton complete with high thread count sheets, a spa/gym, and as much complimentary wine and coffee as we could drink. At this point in the vacation I was thinking that I could just stay there for the 9 days and be content but we had a dream vacation to embark on.

We flew into the Baltra airport, the main entrance to the Galapagos and immediately I was in awe at the variety of landscapes and ecosystems that we passed through just in the half hour we were on the bus to the main port of Santa Cruz. The combination of my own expectations, the intense excitement reflected on the faces of all my fellow bus passengers, and the beauty surrounding us made me want to jump out of the bus and start exploring immediately. The complimentary coffee at the hotel and on the plane didn't help but I was almost literally peeing my pants in anticipation.

We had decided to do a land-based tour of the islands in part because of my mom's susceptibility to seasickness. This turned out to be the right choice as we watched from our hotel balcony as the boats in the bay rocked all night long. That first afternoon we hiked out to the Charles Darwin Research Station, the home of Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his population who is currently refusing to interbreed with tortoises of other populations. On our way there we started to get a dose of what the Galapagos is really all about when we saw sea lions lounging on park benches and marine iguanas sunning themselves on every rock. After seeing tortoises of all ages and sizes in an area that felt somewhat like Jurassic Park, we explored some nearby lagoons where we saw a variety of birds including the famed Darwinian finches. I couldn't wait to get started on the serious wildlife search the next day.

Our second day was jammed with activity as we headed out to Tortuga bay. In order to access the pristine beaches we had to watch our step so as not to step on marine iguanas and baby sea lions awaiting the return of the mothers who had headed out to hunt. On this hike we saw our first blue-footed boobies diving from way up in the air to catch fish. Their blue feet are even more strangely comical in person than they are in pictures. One of our main goals on this hike was to get to the kayak rentals so we could head out into the bay and look for the sea turtles. The kayak rental guy never showed up so my dad and I waded out to try and see the turtles. As we saw their little heads popping up to take breaths, we were frustrated by our inability to get any closer. It all turned out alright as we ended up seeing quite a few sea turtles throughout our trip.

While we were still on Santa Cruz we took a boat tour out around some of the bays nearby. I snorkeled with incredibly playful sea lions while dad and grandma watched from the boat. My mom made the correct decision to stay behind for this one as many of the passengers were vomiting off the side within a few minutes of leaving the bay. Winter in the Galapagos is not fun for those prone to motion sickness. On this tour we also saw tons of sea turtles hanging out in the waves and, of course, marine iguanas.

The next stop on our journey was Isabella, an incredible island partly because it is the largest and has very little development compared with the other populated islands. During our stay on Isabella we saw flamingoes, sea turtles, LOTS of sea lions, penguins, and sharks. On our first day, my dad and I took a very vigorous hike up to the highlands to see the Sierra Negra volcanic crater. The lava field landscape added another otherworldly ecosystem to our list of experiences. This crater last erupted in 2005 so the newly cooled lava was a rainbow of colors and minerals that ended at the sea on one side and a huge hill covered in vegetation on the other side. The extremes and contrasts left little doubt as to why this place is considered such a biological miracle.

The highlight of my entire Galapagos trip was probably the bay tour we took on Isabella. This tour started out with a snorkel through a grotto where the white tipped sharks go to rest. These sharks are docile but imposing at up to 2 meters long. As I floated on top of the water, tons of sharks rested below me and a playful sea lion scooted along underneath me. This sea lion made me nervous at first as it swam ahead and then swam at my face at full speed only to dive deeper and go under me at the last second. From the shark grotto, we continued on to a little island where we got out and walked along another grotto with tons of sharks and puffer fish. This grotto happened to be next to a well populated bay. I got giddy when I realized that the dilemma I faced was whether to watch the sharks, the penguins, the sea turtles, or the manta ray. I had never been around so much incredible wildlife at one time.

When we tried to walk around this small island to get to the rock that the local penguin colony calls home, we found a large, aggressive sea lion in our path and had to get back on our boat to continue to the other side of island. When we got there we were not disappointed. The penguins were jumping in and out of the water and waddling around just as I had always imagined them but, obviously, much cooler in person. After this tour I was sold on Isabella Island as the best and I was disappointed that our boat left for San Cristobal Island the next morning. I could have spent a good amount of time exploring all that Isabella has to offer.

The last stop on our adventure was San Cristobal, the capitol of the Galapagos Islands and our point of departure. After a grueling boat ride where I thought I was going to have to run out and vomit even though I have never experienced seasickness in my life, we landed in what is rightfully referred to as the sea lion capitol. There were so many sea lions everywhere that it was impossible to walk down city streets without watching where you stepped. Our favorite activity in this town was to sit on the boardwalk overlooking the bay and watch the sea lion mothers come in from their daily hunts and reunite with their babies. The reunions were full of barking and embracing followed by the babies nuzzling in to nurse off of their newly fed mothers. This activity turned from joyous to heart-wrenching when we started to notice that some of the babies waiting on the beach and barking for their mothers were never answered and, letting natural selection take its course, were left to starve. Some of the more emaciated looking babies seemed to be on their second or third day of waiting and I became too emotional to watch any longer.

Our trip to the Galapagos lived up to expectations and then some. The end of the trip was particularly difficult because the next time I see my parents will be next July for my little sister's wedding. Reaching the end of a dream vacation is hard enough without saying goodbye to the family for the next year. Even though the adjustment has been difficult, it has been good to get back to the projects I had neglected and, now that I am keeping pretty busy, I know this year will fly! I can take some of the inspiration of the Galapagos back to Pacora and use it to generate excitement about our own special ecosystem and national protected area. I am also finding myself with a new enthusiasm about traveling because there are so many unbelievable things to see here in Peru and I will be heading back to the USA before I know it.

Check out pictures of my parents' visit and our Galapagos trip at www.picasa.com. The album is called Peru and Galapagos Trip. I will have Facebook pictures up soon.