Thursday, April 21, 2011:
Today, I was supposed to be at the airport at about 8:00am, but my host dad said he could take me to the airport at 7:30am. By doing this, I would save money but risk being late and delaying everyone. At this point, I realized how cheap Ecuador had made me. I would only be saving about $4.00 by not leaving early. I slapped myself in the face (not literally) and told myself I was still American; I can afford to be there on time/early to make sure the people I’d be spending the next week wouldn’t be pissed at me. So, that’s what I did. I was there 30 minutes early.
We finally got everything taken care of and got to the Galapagos. I love how for both of our 40 minute flights to get to the Galapagos, they fed us while for American Airlines, we fly for 3 hours and get squat… At least some airline still cares about service.
We arrived and took a bus to a port where we got into a little dingy boat which took us out to our “yacht.” I thought it was more like the boat out of Giligan’s Island as compared to the yacht in the “I’m on a Boat” music video – rustic, but fun! The next question: what do the rooms look like and who will I be rooming with? Answers: small as expected, so very authentic, and I was rooming with the organizer of the trip, Matt. He’s a very funny and energetic guy, so we get along well. Right after we dropped off our bags, we got right onto our first tour. We went in our “Panda Boat” (I misunderstood what the mini dingy boat was really called in Spanish, but I called it a Panda Boat, so the name stuck with the group) to go see the mangroves.
Within the mangroves, there were little sections of them that were home to various animals. The first section was sharks! The sharks were only about the size of my arm, but still very interesting. I wouldn’t say I’d be afraid of them though. All along the way we were surrounded by a diverse set of endemic birds (we learned that “natural” means that they live here, but exist in other parts of the world as well, but endemic means that the animals are found here and only here). Our next mangrove patch was home to some HUGE turtles. The first couple we saw were about the size of my torso, but the next couple were the size of my whole body! They would pop their heads up for air, release a big gasp, and just make you think what they could have been like in pre-historic times. They live for about 100-200 years and have been around for millions of years. It puts our species to shame.
After trolling around the mangroves for about an hour and a half, we finally returned to the boat. At the boat, we were given a presentation by our tour guide who is a very fun and young guide. Later in the night, he was casually showing us pictures he was taking of some Columbian models on the islands -- these girls were something out of maxim. I didn’t believe him at first until he showed us pictures of him and them all on the beach together kissing him. I thought before that the bar owner in Puerto Lopez had the perfect life, but he makes that guy’s life seem boring. C’mon, really? He’s a tour guide who gets to travel around the islands partying with fun tourists all day, a professional photographer taking pictures of the incredible species and Columbian models – if you have a beach life and don’t want to move somewhere else in the future, that’s got to be the life to have. I think island life would be good for about a month to half a year, but after I would need to leave to switch it up. But, regardless – good life for him.
That night, we had welcome cocktails with the captain and went to the top of the boat to star gaze – star gaze without ANY light pollution, cascading land protruding from the water from the actively moving tectonic plates, and endless motion. I can’t believe I’m doing this in college. Every trip, I’m in awe. Again, we talked about a range of topics from my new obsession with the original Star Trek series, our embarrassing USA space program, and our Ecuadorian experience thus far.
The night sky was so captivating to me that when everyone else decided to retire to their cabins, I had made up my mind to sleep outside on the top of the boat for the night. I could only listen to music and star gaze for about 15 minutes before my eye lids were forced shut from fatigue. Falling asleep on top of a yacht, thanking God for my life, underneath the vast sky, in the Galapagos. It can’t get any better.
Ciao,
Michael
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