The 5 Most Magical Things In The Galápagos

Although writing is one of my notable skills, I find it difficult to describe the majesty of the Galápagos Islands.  It matters not the quality of your camera nor the craftiness of your words, you simply must experience this remarkably unique part of the world with your senses. For purposes of ease, I have assembled my greatest experiences in The Galápagos Islands in list form. 

5.) The Warmest Jade-Water This Side of the Western Hemisphere

It doesn't matter how hot the weather may be, one always anticipates the unpleasant feeling of the initial impact with cold ocean water. The typical feet in, hesitate, walk further, hesitate, up to your waist, hesitate, can't take it anymore, dive in. Not here, friends. I stepped into the water with my stiffly prepared muscles and almost collapsed when I felt the surprising warmth. Not even in Hawaii is it this pleasant.



4.) The Endemic Species

Cacti Tree: The Hipster

The term "endemic" means "local" or, in this case, "existing only in this part of the world." There are thousands of species of the endemic sort here, including the enclosed Giant Galápagos Cactus Tree and the Giant Galapagos Tortoise. The Cactus Tree is the only cactus in the world to grow in the form of a tree. It grows out of lava rocks and has little bowl-like structures that grow out of its spines to help catch water. I also saw hundreds of Galapagos finches, which look like regular birds, but it was a very exciting historical observation.

Lonesome George: Can't Get No Lovin'

The Giant Galápagos Tortoise is devastatingly endangered. My heart swelled for mankind with the projects that have been initiated by the Darwin Foundation to reintroduce this species as quantitatively flourishing, even though their dwindling numbers are caused primarily by humans. A great example of this is Lonesome George, the only tortoise left of his species for which attempts to find a mate have been futile. The subspecies Chelonoidis Nigra Abingdoni may end with the death of this big guy's DNA. 
UPDATE: Lonesome George sadly passed away in 2012.

3.)  The Food and Drink

That soup under my arm? Hands Down Best Soup I've Ever Had.

I will not pretend that food does not drive my entire being: my plans for the day, my daydreams, my anticipatory events. I am a self-proclaimed foodie and my condition worsened ten fold on this trip. The food was indescribably delectable and laughably inexpensive. The best part is that with all the hiking, swimming, and sweating, you will not only not gain weight, you will lose it. There is also nothing like an ice cold beer where the sun is the strongest year round. Word of warning, though: Do NOT order lobster out of season. 

2.) Snorkeling with Hammerhead Sharks, Sea Turtles, and Marine Iguanas.

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of my swimming with these fantastically exotic animals, so I stole one from Google of a hammerhead. Yes, I swam with hammerhead sharks, regular sharks, and baby sharks. I nearly soiled myself when a hammerhead streaked past my vision and dove right underneath my belly. There are only a few places of decent snorkeling and its best to go on a guided tour, where they provide the best locations, a filling lunch, and a boat ride back and forth for as little as $40 for the day. 

1.) The Dance of The Sea Lion

The best part of the trip was snorkeling with the sea lions. The sea lion is a bit of a jerk on land, even though it is still heart-achingly cute. It is territorial, it barks like mad, it stinks to high heaven, and it is hilariously clumsy. Not to mention they take up all the benches.

You would not recognize the sea lion on land when it is in water. This creature is so lovely and playful. While snorkeling I watched it limp over from his rocky bed to the edge of the harbor and dive in with the grace of an olympic gold medalist. Under the water one of them charged at me, and just as I was wondering what I might taste like, he backflipped away and then dove in between my legs with snorkel-gear dropping ease. There were at least five or six of them, each going from snorkeler to snorkeler and teasing them, gnawing at their flippers, poiretting around the shocked tourists. My cheeks hurt from smiling around my snorkel so frequently.

The Galápagos Islands are every bit as magical as they have been described by myself and thousands before me. It is one of the most reasonably priced and unique experiences you will ever have. It is also a great opportunity to practice your Spanish, but don't worry if you're rusty, as the locals make their living on serving the awestruck tourists.

Formula for a Lost Tourist

Due to some severe complications with my ticket to the Galapagos, I had to make a pain-in-the ass trip to Quito to get it all squared away (which is a 6 hour bus ride). I am in the station waiting for my bus (which doesnt leave for three hours) to arrive, and decided I´d kill some time with an entry, because I am unfortunately addicted to the internet.


Despite having to leave at 3 in the morning to fix this crap, I have had a pretty adventurous day and its only noon. I am amazed at the friendliness of people here and have come up with a fool-proof formula for getting assistance when you need it:

Big Doe Eyes + Sweet High-Pitched Voice + "Muchas, Muchas Gracias" = Help (Big Breasts Optional)

Maybe a bit less creepy than this.

Now, you may think that you dont need all these things to get assistance. But I assure you, you do. I arrived to Quito at God-Knows-Where and had to ask several people to help me get aaaaalllll the way across town before I even knew that it WAS across town. With this free formula, everyone took great pity on me and walked me to the buses, waited with me so I would get the correct one, called me "mi amor" "mi hija" "mi niña" "dulce," etc. and saved me at least $15 in taxi fare (the whole trip costed $0.50 via the buses). For truly the first time, today I felt like I was really traveling and not some weak tourist dependent on the convenience of a taxi.

The taxi drivers here BLOW. They manipulate, rob, jip, rape, pillage, and burn. They´re a bunch o´ bullies, so much so that even Ecuadorians hate them, and they honk, and honk, and honk, and honk, and honk. I have literally been four inches away from being plowed down by one of them. I once saw an old man crossing the street when a taxi nearly hit him at a slow speed, and he balled up his hands with rage and bashed them forcefully on the trunk of the car. The taxi slowed down and looked angrily out his window but the glower of the old man was so intense the driver wisely moved on. Honestly, I was kind of hoping for a hoedown, but Ecuadorian crime is mostly nonviolent. GO VIEJO! 


And yeah, that´s the end of that.

Big Bugs/Sad Faces

Being a proud Oregonian, it is difficult for me to admit that Ecuador can exceed the beauty of my home state. Flat land all but exists here. The mountains that pierce the sky are blanketed in patches of green like quiltwork, signifying territory of individual farming land. In Quito, where the city almost touches the sky, a opaque mist can be seen over their peaks as a constant fog rolls over them, but in the jungle, the hills surf like ocean waves from the base of the mountains as trees and foliage of all types explode on their emerald shore. Yes, it is this breathtaking.

I arrived to the jungle with my giant military backpack. I had been excited about it because it had been so cheap, but then everyone stared at me and a thought occured that I might be considered a terrorist. I was saddned, because I believed it to be such a cheap backpack, but then my travel buddy told me she had gotten hers at REI for $30. So it goes.

There are so many bugs here. Some of gigantic porportions, like butterflies that have wings adorned with what look like huge, unblinking eyes, to large ebony spiders whose creeping black legs cause me to wail like a lost child. The insects perform an opera of chirps in the night, and something about it is extremely comforting, a constant reminder of macroscopic life cooing me to sleep. 

The other day a young child approached me on the street with huge eyes brimming with tears. He asked me, "¿tienes modera para comer?" I hadn't heard this grammar spoken before and wondered to myself if he had spoken incorrectly, when his miserable face alerted me to the despondency of his request. I tried to lie and tell him I didn't have cash money, when his little friend came to his rescue because apparently his face wasn't manipulative enough. He had a little metal crate filled with shoe polish, and he asked me if I wanted a shine. I looked down at my feet. I was wearing tennis shoes. I stared into his carefully crafted face and as his tears fell my will fell with them. I gave them both a dollar, proving not only I was a liar but a soft-hearted tourist. After they jogged away happily an older Ecuadorian man shook his head at me.

We spent last week in Papallacta because our trip to Mindo had been thwarted by road blockage caused by the April rain. Next week I am going to Galapagos Islands where I have been promised giant turtles, komodo dragons, and pink dolphins. I have been promised! I am not quite sure what adventures await me but I believe they involve snorkeling, scuba diving, and drinking perfect piña coladas. The giant nerd side of me really hopes their will be some sort of Darwin tribute there. I will be certain to document my experience when time permits. Stay tuned for my next post, "They Promised Me Turtles."

Brevity and Chicken Feet

As it is mandatory for my internship to document my Ecuadorian experience in the virtual world, I decided I had procrastinated much too long. A great many things have happened, both unfortunate and wonderful, but for the sake of brevity and the interests of my readers, I will try and keep it short.


Ecuador is fantastic. It´s cheap, warm, has so many adventures to offer, and surprisingly, it is extremely easy to get around. I have been working in a hospital for a couple of weeks, both in emergency and in gynecology. I believe it is safe to say that the latter will not be my expertise, and also that if I ever questioned the direction of my sexuality, that curiosity has been obliterated. 


I have yet to spend a weekend in Quito. I consider Quito my work city, not because it doesnt have countless amounts of things to do, but because I have more interest in nature than in city wonders, and because I get plenty of civilization back in the States. My first weekend was spent in Tena, where I canoed along the Amazon river, saw numerous amounts of (what I consider) exotic animals, and hiked through the jungle. I don´t need to go into the details of how wonderful it was. My second weekend was spent in Otavalo, which is a small tourist city with a huge, cheap outdoor market. Shopping isnt an area of interest to me, and I found this experience to be so-so. Though it was very quaint.


The food here can be both wonderful and downright nauseating. Though I appreciate the indigenous practice of eating all parts of an animal, I cant seem to overcome the dizzy feeling I get when I am served chicken feet in my soup. I realize this is cultural and that the feet are probably just as nutritious and savory as the breast, but it really freaks me out. I have hence planned to request "¿Podria tener mi sopa sin pata, por favor?" (Could I get my soup without feet, please?") It is human nature to speak primarily of negative experiences, but overall, the food here is wonderful, though vegetables are scarce.


My Spanish is more than sufficient. Fortunately, people speak quite clearly here, although some do not seem to understand the desperate request, "¿hablas mas despacio, por favor?" which, in case you don´t know, means "could you speak slower, please?" They just stare at you stupidly for a second, certainly mirroring your own dumbfounded expression, and then repeat themselves as rapidly as they did before. I have since found it much easier, for both the spanish speaker and myself, to walk away. Most individuals, however, are more than willing to accomodate your infintile knowledge of their language.


This weekend I will be traveling to Mindo with friends from my internship (of whom I have become rather close), where I will be zip lining over the valleys (not just one zip line, but many connected zip lines that will take me across the city) and hiking in the "Cloud Forest," which I have yet to fully understand. I will keep you updated next week.