The Voyage of the Beetle

Hello, faithful blog readers!

I am back again for another Study Abroad Blog Extravaganza. This time I'm going to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands to study biodiversity and naturalist writings. That's a pretty big jump for an English major, but not so much for previous Zoobooks subscriber. My last attempt at frequent blogging didn't turn out so well, but I am committed to doing it right this time. No more leaving you hanging for weeks on end! Hopefully, anyway.

You have undoubtedly (probably not) noticed that I've changed the name of the blog from "In the Land of Sheep and Peter Jackson" to "The Voyage of the Beetle." This is, first and foremost, because Ecuador has neither a massive sheep population nor a bespectacled Lord of the Rings director. The Galapagos, one might say, is the very CRADLE of evolutionary thought... also known as the home of megadiverse ecosystems and Darwin's legendary finches. The history of it all is overwhelming. Anyway, our study abroad group is basically pretending to be naturalists in an unknown land. Instead of baggin' possums or making detailed scientific drawings, we will photograph the flora and fauna that we find and then attempt to catalog species. I've been assigned to gather information on insects (others are looking up mammals, reptiles, plants, birds, and marine animals). So the point is, I've renamed the blog after Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle" and substituted "Beetle" because I will be looking at bugs. Additionally, our group will be on a week-long cruise in the Galapagos Islands, so there really will be a voyage of sorts.

My fellow traveler has started a blog as well, hopefully to be used by everyone on the trip. So for your dose of people other than me, please check out Spotted: A Blue Hen in the Galapagos!

I will update again soon with itinerary, etc.