From Quito to the Galapagos

My last week of classes in Quito was good. We all had group presentations which went well. I presented on the topic of ‘Defining Sustainable Use of Wildlife’. Essentially touching on how ambiguous a term sustainable can be, and how there are biological and social perspectives on the issue. We had a final exam on the last Friday, the 16^th that went well. Then Friday night some of my friends and I went with our Ecuadorian buddies to spend our last weekend camping. We drove out about 2 or 3 hours from Cumbaya to a little pueblito where there was a huge beautiful cliff for rock climbing.

We arrived at dark so we could only see the outline of the cliff, but even then we could see how cool it was. There was a river running by where we camped, so we played music, sang, and enjoyed our last weekend together Friday night by the riverside. Then we woke up Saturday morning and went rock hoping up the river for a bit, then came back and went to the cliff to rock climb. There were a lot of people so I didn’t try to rock climb this time, but it was a lot of fun to see some of the people 50 or 100 meters up on the Cliffside climbing. Then we returned Saturday evening and went to a bar in Quito that had a room with walls covered completely in fur and just pillows on the floor. It was nice to relax after camping and before we left for the Galapagos early Sunday morning.

We left early Saturday morning to meet at the University to go to the airport and fly out to the Galapagos. Everything went without a hitch, I was able to bring my guitar on the plane which was my only worry. We flew through Guayaquil to San Cristobal getting there a little before mid day. We met Sara, the leader of the GAIAS program in San Cristobal at the airport and hopped on busses to go to campus. It was cool flying into San Cristobal because you could see the coast of all of the island as well as Kicker Rock, a famous snorkeling and diving spot right off the island. We drove through the town and go to the university, and picture this…

The university is a nice 2 story building on the right side of the road, and then right on the left side of the road is Playa Mann, the beach. And like almost all of the beaches in the Galapagos there were lots of sea lions just lounging around on the beach. After one and a half weeks I don’t think I have seen less than 10 or 15 sea lions on the beach ever. Once we got off the bus we dropped our bags off and went directly to the beach where we took off our shirts and went swimming in our shorts. The water was cold but refreshing.

Then we had our orientation to GAIAS, just giving us general information about the program. We had a group of local GAIAS English students come and give us a tour of the town. Then when we came back we met our host families and went to their houses for dinner. I was picked up by my 2 host brothers Huber and Aaron. We live on the opposite side of town as the university (about a 20 minute walk-it’s a small town) The family is good, they like making jokes which is good because it forces me to try to start joking with my Spanish which is good practice. That first night I went with one of the English Students to Punta Corola, one of the beaches past the university to see the sunset, it was amazing.

Classes started on Monday, I am taking a class called Environment, Culture, and Health. My teacher is Fernando Ortega, who I have been very impressed with. He has represented Ecuador in UN conventions and gets himself involved in lots and lots of interesting projects. So every class he has a personal story related to whatever the topic is that day. The class is formatted so that we have a good amount of reading every day and then 2 or 3 people will present on each of the different chapters we read each day. So this makes every student have 3 presentations over the whole three week class.

So my daily schedule is class from 9am-12 and then lunch, which sometimes we will go into town, but this past week I just bought groceries and ate at the university. Then after that it is a mix of relaxing on the beach, doing readings for class, playing guitar, creating presentations for class, snorkeling, or walking around the town. Since I’ve been playing guitar all the time this semester everyone in the program knows that I play, and they knew I wanted to try to play some gigs this semester as well. This lead to when Chauncy, one of my friends in the program from Australia, learned that his host brother was in a band he told him about me. This started the ball rolling for me and music here.

The first Friday we were here was the viernes culturales, something that the town does every other Friday or so. They set up a small stage on the boardwalk and have different performances, like a town talent show. So I went to the tourist office and talked with them and got a spot to play at the viernes culturales. Of course they put the gringo who signed up 2^nd to last, but it was fun. I played Do Wrong Right by Devil Makes Three, an upbeat song that got the crowd moving even if they didn’t understand it. Then I my friend David, a talented musician as well, played one of his own songs. Every now and then I also played some with Chauncy’s host brother’s band and band mates just jamming and having fun. Then after the Viernes Culturales I went to one of the bars in the town New Moon which I heard sometimes had live music. I went in and talked to the owner, and when I asked him if he would like live music in the bar sometimes he looked down at his watch and said, do you want to play in 20 minutes? So I went back to my house got my mic and cables, and I was able to borrow a mic stand from Chauncy’s host brother Ivan. I played for a bit and the David played a bit as well and it was a fun night. We ended up repeating this Saturday night as well.

Saturday we went on a ‘field trip’ on a boat to Isla lobos and kicker Rock which was absolutely amazing. We all got on three different boats and went out first to a small island off the coast of San Cristobal and went snorkeling. One of the coolest things we saw was something the guide showed us… he put a sea urchin on a patch of algae on a rock and then 2 or 3 damsel fish quickly swam up and worked together to push the sea urchin of the algae. The guide explained that the algae are the fish’s food source, so they protect it which is why they pushed the urchin off. I also spotted a Marble Ray and we got to see some turtles and sea lions as well. Then we hopped back on the boat and went a little further out to Kicker Rock. There when we got in the water we couldn’t see the bottom, but we were going to snorkel through a small little gap that’s between two parts of the rock. As we got to the middle we were able to see Black Tipped Sharks! It was amazing! There were about 10 or 15 of them swimming underneath us as we were snorkeling. We also saw a large Spotted Eagle Ray, many more sea turtles, large star fish stuck to the rock wall, and of course lots and lots of fish. It was incredible. Then we went to a beach to eat lunch and then headed back.

Sunday was just a relaxing day, I did some homework, and relaxed on the beach for a bit. It was a busy first week so it was nice to wind down. Sunday evening there was a small festival on the boardwalk where Ivan’s band was playing. He talked to the organizer and got me and David to open up for them and play for a little bit before they went on which was a lot of fun. There band was really high energy and a lot of fun to listen to. There was a contemporary dance performance and at the end there was cuerpa pintada. Which was a painter who painted this woman’s body, it was amazing, he painted kicker rock with a large shark on her back, and fish on the legs with bubbles going up the back. It was pretty amazing.

This week has been essentially the same schedule as the first week, class in the morning and then a mix of work and beach in the afternoon. I am doing a research project for the class about Environment, Stress, and the Government. I’m trying to see if the Environmental factors that stress people out are ones that the people think the government should be concerned about or not. Also, I am trying to see if it is different in different locations like the Galapagos, Ecuador mainland, Guatemala, the United States, and Mexico. So I created a survey that I have sent out to friends and I will be going around town to try to get some locals responses.

This is a short version of all that has happened because it there has been so much that has happened that I probably forgot some things. But this gives you a general idea of what I’ve been up to. I still have not been able to find anywhere with internet fast enough to upload pictures, sorry. The semester's been great so far and I only expect it to get better! Thanks for keeping up with my adventures! I

Quito, Ecuador

Thursday, August 18^th

Arrived at the airport and greeted by my host family.

Friday 19^th

I went to the University for the International Student Orientation. The campus of USFQ is incredibly nice. We learned that San Francisco was the first liberal arts university in Ecuador and one of the first in South America. The current president of Ecuador was a professor at USFQ until he was fired/quit. It is a very fancy university, and it seems like most of the students who attend are very well to do. This has made it more of a class shock than a culture shock coming here after Guatemala.

Saturday 20^th

We toured the Historic District of Quito on Saturday. The district reminded me of Antigua, Guatemala with cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. It was a nice downtown and had lots of churches. All we have gotten to see is the nice rich suburb, Cumbaya, where USFQ is and the nice downtown. The south side of the city is a lot poorer and is about 2/3rds of the city, but we probably won’t get to see it at all.

Sunday 21^st

On Sunday we connected with a friend of Travis, the guy from my program who is living my homestay. He had a friend who studied abroad at his school, Juniata, last year from here. Me, Travis, and another guy from the program David went with Travis’s friend Matias and some others rock climbing at a place called Sigsipamba. I’ve never really gone rock climbing before but I tried it out and it was a lot of fun. It was a really beautiful place, a huge cliff in the hills over Quito.

Monday 22nd

We had GAIAS orientation, specifically for the Galapagos program. It got me excited for all the trips and the Galapagos. It looks like Travis, David, and I will be hanging out a lot.

Tuesday 23^rd

We had a free day so we went into downtown Quito. We had to handle a little visa problem with Travis that turned out to be a lot of waiting in line for nothing. We stopped a small restaurant for an amazing lunch for $2.50.

Wednesday 24^th

Classes started today. My first class is Wildlife Management and Conservation and is taught by 2 professors, Esteban and Galo who seem to be really cool. It seems like it will be an interesting class.

Thursday 25^th

Regular schedule of class from 9-12. Then in the evening we went to a despidida (going away party) for one of our Ecuadorian friends who was going back to the States to study at University. We had a fun night going out in Quito.

Friday 26^th

We went on our first field trip today. We went to the Paramo, or the highlands. The day started early and we bussed out to the start of the hike at 4300 meters altitude. We were in the clouds and it was cold and rainy. It was a fun hike being able to clearly see the ecosystems changing as we went down. There were lots of little lakes in the Paramo, and the Paramo is actually where the majority of the water for Quito comes from. At the end of the hike we got to go to hot springs and bathe in hot pools. It was a great way to relax after a long hike.

Saturday 27^th

We took a trip to Otavalo today. Otavalo is a small town about 2 hours outside of Quito that is famous for its huge market. We went walked around the market for most of the day, I bought some small things as souvenirs. The coolest part was just the atmosphere of the market which reminded me a lot of the markets in Guatemala. Then we returned to Quito in the evening just in time to run home and go back into downtown Quito to participate in La Ruta de Las Iglesias, a annual 10k run through downtown Quito. Reports said that there were at least 6000 people signed up and more than 4000 people running for fun like we were. It was a beautiful route around a bunch of the churches in downtown and it was cool experience to participate in a run with so many people. I ended up finishing in around 55 minutes, which for the altitude I think is a pretty good time.

Sunday 28^th

Travis, David, and Me went to Teleferrico today. Teleferrico is a cable car that goes up a mountain called Pichincha overlooking Quito. The cable car took us up about a kilometer to over 4300 meters, we had a nice hike with some beautiful views.

Monday 29^th

Back to regular the regular schedule of class today. It was nice to have a relaxing afternoon after having a long weekend.

Tuesday 30^th

Regular class today, then in the afternoon we went and played with the university’s basketball team in the afternoon.

Wednesday 31^st

Today we left for our 2^nd field trip to the cloud forest called Maquipucuna. We left early in the morning and got there around mid day. Then we split up in groups and my group hiked for a couple hours to a beautiful waterfall. We were with a local guide who was able to point out and name all the different plants and insects we saw. When we got to the waterfall the water was freezing cold but it was a lot of fun swimming around under the waterfall. In the evening we had a lecture about the local rivers and ecosystems in the area. The food at Maquipucuna was amazing as well and there was locally grown coffee that was great.

Thursday, September 1^st

We woke up early today to go bird watching at Maquipucuna. We saw some Tucan’s and other birds. One group saw a Quetzal but we weren’t lucky enough to see one. Then we went on a hike through the forest before lunch. We headed back to Quito after lunch and went out in downtown Quito in the evening.

Friday 2^nd

Had regular class today, and its crazy to think that there are only 5 more days of class in the classroom after today. We went into downtown Quito again in the evening which was a lot of fun.

Saturday 3^rd

Slept in today and then hung out with Travis, David, and our Ecuadorian friends. Then in the evenings we went to The Wailers concert. It was amazing! I had seen the Wailers in Chapel Hill, but it didn’t compare at all to seeing the Wailers in Quito. The opening band was a really cool ska, reggae band with a bunch of horns that came out with tons of energy. The energy didn’t stop until the end of the show, which ended on a 10 minute long jam on Exodus.

Sunday 4^th

Slept in after the concert and then hung out with my host family who had a family barbeque in the backyard. It was fun to hang out with the family which I haven’t done much because I’ve been so busy. Then I packed for our trip to Tiputini from the 5^th to the 9^th.

Monday 5^th

We left for Tiputini at 6:30 in the morning. We took a bus to the airport, took a 25 minute flight over the mountains to a small Oil town Coca. Then we got on a boat from there for 2 hours to the edge of the large Oil concession. We then took a 2 hour bus ride through the oil concession on the oil road. We had to go through a checkpoint for the oil company to be allowed to use the road. After that we took another 2 hour boat down the Tiputini River to get to the Tiputini Biodiversity Site in the Amazon Forest. It was a long trip out there but it was amazing to get out into the middle of the jungle. The Biodiversity Site is a research center started by the University, and Tiputini is one of the most, if not the most biodiverse areas in the entire world. Just walking around camp we were able to see Spider Monkeys, Wooly Monkeys, and Howler Monkeys. There were so many different species of plants, insects, spiders, and everything you can imagine.

Tuesday 6^th

We went on a hike with one of the local guides in the morning. He was able to show us all of the plants and insects. He showed us a tree that had a symbiotic relationship with Lemon Ants that would protect it in exchange for a home. We also tasted the ants and the tasted exactly like Lemon. There were many other interesting things like that that the guide was able to show us. Then in the afternoon we went to the Puentes and Torre (the bridges and the tower).

The bridges were over 30 meters high in the canopy of the forest. We had to climb up a somewhat shaky metal structure to get up the bridges and then harness in for safety. It was scary but an amazing experience. On one of the platforms in between the bridges we were able to climb up a rickety metal ladder another 10 meters to a platform at the top of a tree and see out over the whole forest. There were trees for as far as the eye can see in every direction. It was amazing. The only drawback was that there were a lot of bugs and bees that up on the bridge that would find any uncovered skin on you. Then we went to the Tower which was 40 meters high and we were able to relax at the top and see out over the Amazon. There were amazing views and the local guide was able to point out birds and different plants. It was an amazing experience.

Wednesday 7^th

In the morning we went on a hike to a lake nearby the Biodiversity station. Our group of 6 got in a small Canoe with the professor and paddled around the lake. It looked like a scene from the age of the dinosaurs. The plants all looked prehistoric and there were ‘Watson Birds’ which looked like prehistoric turkeys. There were also tons of bats hanging off of the trees. It was a really cool place.

Then we did some class work in the afternoon, working in groups on brainstorming conservation ideas and thinking critically about how to address some of the problems that are pressing in Tiputini. These are problems involving the Oil Companies, the local Woarani people, and the conservation of the Environment. It was an interesting activity and it was interesting to hear all the different solutions that people came up with.

Thursday 8^th

In the morning we did some field work which consisted of looking at poop for 2 hours. This was actually more interesting than you would think. We were testing the species richness of disturbed areas of the forest versus undisturbed areas. Tons of ants and flies would come to the poop and then there were dung beetles that would come and carry little pieces of way. We even had spiders come and start to catch the flies that had been attracted to the poop. It was cool to see how just in an hour or two so much could happen in such a small area.

In the afternoon we did a flotada, and floated down the river. We floated down for around 2 hours and had a good time. We stopped in the middle and had a huge mud fight which was fun. It was nice and relaxing to be on the river after hiking the previous couple of days.

Friday 9^th

We headed back on Friday. We took the boat back in the morning, took the bus down the oil road, and then took the 2^nd boat to Coca. Then when we arrived in Coca we were informed that because of the weather our flight back to Quito had been canceled. We ended up being put up in a nice hotel in Coca and having to spend the night there and caught of flight the next morning. It was a really nice hotel and it was nice to hang out with the group because we had become close during the trip.

Saturday 10^th

We flew back this morning and got in around midday. So I finally got back and I have finally found some time to write a blog post. So as you can see I’ve been very busy and have been trying to do as much as I can while I’m here. Only one week more until the Galapagos, which is very exciting! Quito has been great and the field trips have been wonderful but I can’t wait to get out to the islands. Next time I post will probably be from the Islands. I don’t think we will have very good internet access there but I’ll keep you all posted with how everything is going!