I am throwing in the towel on making timely blogs. We are super busy and may or may not have internet access for the next few days. I promise to write and upload pictures when I am back home, but for now, I will direct you to Deb's blog. It is much more entertaining than this one anyway.
Galapagos is wonderful and I just need a little more time to enjoy it.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Terra Firma!
Hello from the glorious solid land of Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island! The Galapagos cruise was pretty incredible, but I am extremely glad to be off the boat.. er, yacht. We lounging at the beautiful Silberstein Hotel and I will be back with a proper update later today. Deb is working on a blog as I type, so you can probably read hers before I come back.
But anyway, I am still alive! Talk to you later, internets.
But anyway, I am still alive! Talk to you later, internets.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
So much for keeping up with the blog. (Click over to Flickr for some photos)
I skipped a day of blogging in Quito, didn't realize there wasn't internet at Pululahua, then wasn't able to get on at Sachatamia due to weak wireless signal and frequent power outages. Our guide told us that two days ago 80% of the entire country experienced a blackout from a lightning storm. And we all thought the power was out because of roadwork.
Here's a quick update on what's been going on so far. I regret that it won't be super detailed, but I have written 31 pages of travel journal for class and I'm a little pooped out from all that.
12 January 2009 Monday
Our first full day in Ecuador! Much to everyone's dismay, we were not allowed to take cameras or bags out with us since Quito just isn't that safe. We found out that there was no romantically pretty "old city" nor a proper tour. Instead, we met up with Dr. Cliff Kyle, who used to teach at UD and now works at a Catholic University here in Quito. We had to take a bus to get there - one that runs only north and south. Fifteen of us first tried to enter through the exit of the bus station, then had to change paper money into 15 quarters for our individual fees. When a bus came, we all stepped aside to let people off, leaving only enough time for Becca and Dr. Shriver to board before the doors closed. Dr. Shriver looked horrified as the bus drove off without the rest of the group. Luckily our TA Sarah was with us and rounded us up for the next bus... This time we didn't hesitate and all got on fine. We then rode seven stops standing and squished between each other and a bunch of Ecuadorians. Our first adventure!
Dr. Kyle took us around what he called a safe and touristy area, but it didn't look like what I would call a nice part of town. Not that it was terrible, just a mish mosh of things I wasn't expecting. There are some new or well-kept buildings, but they are peppered in between older, weathered ones and bordered by crumbling sidewalks. (Our guide Pablo says there are no restrictions for what to build where, so there are no specific districts and often no division between rich and poor neighborhoods) This was also the place where I first saw the Ecuadorian substitute for barbed wire: glass shards stuck in a thin layer of concrete. As a consolation prize, there are plants everywhere and they're always in flower because the climate is so stable here.
We went to lunch at a nice open air cafe in a little square and had our first of what would be become many beautiful, delicious meals. From that point on, everyone knew that we were definitely not roughing it on this trip. Dr. Kyle took us back to his university and proudly presented the herbarium (a collection of dried plant specimens, not the greenhouse I was expecting) and the entomological collection. He pulled out drawer after drawer of some pretty awesome insects, bringing out at least 3 or 4 more after he'd decided it was the last one.
Most of us had dinner back at the hotel, then took advantage of the pool and hot tub for some quality group bonding time.
I see I do not have the capacity to be brief... I'll do my best to finish updating about this week before we leave tomorrow morning.
13 January 2009 Tuesday
Woke up early for breakfast at the hotel, then piled on the bus and headed for Pululahua (say: poo-loo-LAH-wah). We drove through Quito a bit and got to see more of the city. When I spotted a single goat tethered on a corner, I knew it was time to take photos. I snapped about 100 pictures out of the bus window and you can see them here! They are not the greatest, but you can get an idea of what South America looks like.
We arrived earlier than expected to the El Crater hotel, so we dropped our bags off and went on what Pablo called a "short hike" that was actually a 6 mile hike down Pululahua volcano, around the agricultural zone in the crater, and back up the mountain. Downhill took a while because everyone was overwhelmed by taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery. The crater was very interesting - about 300 people live and farm there, but it doesn't look like anyone's around. The houses are small and pieced together out of concrete walls and sheets of metal. We did see a bunch of people passing us on the mountain trail, going up on horseback or on foot like the incline was no big deal. The way back up was intense. I had to stop to catch my breath every 20 paces because of the incline, the altitude, and my lack of exercise as of late. I was passed by, among others, an old woman wearing loafers.
Returning to El Crater was very nice. A hot shower and hot food were just what our tired muscles needed. And thus began our string of three course meals. After dinner, I attempted to nap but couldn't sleep very well because it was so cold. We had our first class discussion, then went back to the restaurant for dinner (surprise surprise). The altitude and tough hike was taking a toll on me, so I went to bed right afterwards.
14 January 2009 Wednesday
Deb and I woke up to find that it was still cold, our windows were still foggy, and all of our clothes were still damp. We had breakfast at the restaurant, then loaded onto the bus and headed for the Mindo Valley. We stopped at El Pahuma Orchid Reserve, which is something like 170 hectares of cloud forest set aside as a spectacled bear habitat. Pablo that they are not aggressive animals, but when provoked will not hesitate to *smacking motion*... they will not hold back. Regrettably, our thundering herd of 15 (okay, we're not THAT bad) did not see anything as big as a bear. Except maybe some ginormous leaves. We hiked uphill for about an hour and a half trying to reach a waterfall near the top of mountain, but had to turn back at 11:30 so we could make it to Sachatamia in time for lunch. If I had to pick a word of the day, it would be "slippery." We walked back down in a line, warning the people behind of particularly muddy spots. A few of us took some spills, but nothing too serious.
We bussed to Sachatamia, a cloud forest reserve with lodge and cabanas for guests. All of the buildings have signs asking you not to enter with shoes (it's always rainy and muddy), so of course I felt at home. More hummingbirds than I've ever seen were buzzing about the front of the lodge eating from feeders. It was pretty magical. Some people had rooms upstairs in the main house, while the rest of us walked a little ways to private cabanas. I spent the afternoon preparing for discussion, went to discussion, then went down to dinner. On the way back to the cabin, Steph and I decided to go for a walk with Adam, Jon, and Becca instead of turning in. We were out for over an hour with flashlights and headlamps, prowling for the kind of nightlife you can only find in the rain forest. It was raining, but the trees kept us from getting too soaked. We found a bunch of huge katydid-looking insects, weevils, walking sticks, anoles, tiny frogs, and the coolest bug I've ever seen with its babies all in a line behind it on a tree. I will post the picture when I upload it to Flickr.
15 January 2009 Thursday
Woke up once again to damp air and damp clothes. The cloud forest is rainy almost all the time and nothing ever really dries. After breakfast, Ashley organized a zipline hike in the forest behind the lodge. Two Sachatamia guides took us on a hike with a rope swing and two ziplines (harnessed!) over big open canopies. Running off of a ledge was definitely frightening, but the feeling of gliding above the trees was wonderful and actually quite peaceful. I came in fast on my first landing and instead of touching down lightly, I slid into home, colliding with the people who were trying to snap a picture of me. Oddly enough, the hardest part of the hike didn't involve any forest or mud - it was the uphill trail back up to the lodge area at the very end. It felt like Palulahua all over again... though I did feel better with each hike we went on.
I showered before lunch, but all for naught because it was raining and we took yet another hike after eating. We all piled into two pickup trucks, including 6 or 7 people in the sheltered and bench-equipped truck beds, to ride to the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation. There was room in the trucks' cabs, but the last of us opted to sit in back for the experience. And it WAS an experience. Bumpy, slightly rainy, uncomfortable, and at times terrifying. Our drivers barreled down two-lane roads, passed and were passed in the other lane, and made an inexplicable stop on a curve.
MCF is a bird reserve and budding (no pun intended) shade tree coffee farm on reclaimed cattle pasture. The director (I think) of the foundation, Brian, took us on another of those "walks" in the rain to where the coffee was planted - a pretty tough hike just to get to the crops. Maybe there was a short cut he wasn't telling us about... The coffee plants are only about 2 years old and not ready to be harvested, but we did get to pick a few red berries. Brian showed us how to pop the white coffee beans out of the fruits and how to eat the red skin part. It was sweet, but had the same leafy kind of taste as pomegranate. There was another scary ride back to the lodge and as if Mary's earlier wish ("I hope the lights go out!") had come true, the power went out. The Sachatamia staff fired up the generator and were wonderful about keeping us happy and well-fed despite the outage. After dinner, a flashlighted card game turned into a long conversation about ghosts, which naturally turned to contemplation about the meaning of life. When Steph and I returned to our cabin (only next door to the one we had been in), we were pretty freaked out. The power had returned by then, but just as we were going to bed, there was a flashing light on our ceiling that shouldn't have been there. Fearing ghosts, we turned the lights on and talked ourselves to sleep. The power went out again before our eyes closed, though.
16 January 2009 Friday
Friday morning I spent catching up on journal entries (also playing pool in the main house) and missing out on a sunny morning. After lunch, we took another terrifying truck ride, this time to the Mariposario (Butterfly garden) just outside of Mindo. This one involved using the other lane to pass a cow in the road, an Ecuadorian truck driver who did NOT observe safe following distance to scare us, and our driver taking the truck through standing water... also to scare us. I don't think any of us would have traded that experience for the comfort of the cab.
The Mariposario dazzled right off the bat with huge caterpillars in aquariums and an impressive cabinet of pupae (pronounced POOP-ah by the woman who showed us in), including freshly metamorphosed butterflies drying their wings. We went into a small garden with 10 or 12 species of butterfly fluttering about and drinking nectar from flowers. We could even pick them up with a little chunk of watermelon on our fingers for them to eat. I wasn't having much luck until the end when I secured one and it wouldn't leave my finger. Then a particularly friendly Blue Morpho decided that I smelled awfully tasty and kept landing on me. It wasn't interested in watermelon, but was very happy to extend its wet little proboscis onto my wrist and lap up the sweat from under my watch. I had to coax it very slowly into the hands of an older British lady when we realized that the rest of our group had left the garden a long time ago.
We scrapped our plans to go into the town of Mindo, as we'd passed through on the way in and didn't want to unleash a crowd of sweaty kids from the backs of two pickups. Instead we took another ride back to Sachatamia and had dinner there, where the power was out yet again. It was on and off all night, dashing hopes of checking out the hot tub and also being able to see clearly. I had given the staff a bagful of my laundry the day before and by some miracle, it had been washed and dried at some point when the power was actually on. This was especially wonderful because I'd run out of pants to wear and shorts were getting a bit cold.
17 January 2009 Saturday
Attempted to wake up early and go searching for Howler monkeys, but 4 am is awfully early when you've been up late writing journal entries by flashlight. Steph and I woke up at 7:30 instead, repacked, and went to breakfast. Pablo and our driver, Claudio arrived after breakfast and we loaded the bus to head back to the Dann Cartlon in Quito. I fell asleep for most of the ride, then we stopped at Inti-nan Solar Museum, the site of the GPS-defined equator. We saw some replicas of indigenous peoples' houses (and one hundreds of years old original) and did some sweet gravity experiments. Our guide kept asking us to move to the northern hemisphere, now step over to the southern hemisphere please. It never gets old. Afterward it was back to the bus and back to the Dann Carlton. Some people had great intentions of going out to eat, but caved to room service as we didn't have lunch and everyone was tired. Bethany, Katy, and I had dinner at the hotel restaurant and I've been blogging ever since.
Tomorrow we are leaving the hotel at 6:30 to catch a plane to the Galapagos Islands. We will be on a cruise for 8 days and seven nights, snorkeling, island hopping, and getting to know each other reeeeeeally well. I won't have internet, but I'll keep track of what happens and of course document every frigate bird we see. Expect me back Sunday at the earliest, when we'll be on Santa Cruz island and hopefully hooked into the ol' intertubes. Don't forget to check out Deb's blog for a more concise and entertaining account of our adventures. Link's on the right.
Take care up there in the cold. I will be baking under equatorial sun and swimming with the fishes (in the best way possible).
P.S. I love comments!
P.P.S. Never fear about the glasses! We had some rough times (lens falling out 5 or 6 times during hikes, lens falling out after night hike and disappearing for 20 minutes in in a bed of green in the rainy dark), but we are friends again. I taped the sucker into the frames with pieces of Band-Aid cut with my Swiss Army knife's scissors. I look pretty stylish. People keep telling me that they don't even notice the tape. I'm not sure I believe them. Anyways, everything is alright. Now I have something to do when I get home, right?
Here's a quick update on what's been going on so far. I regret that it won't be super detailed, but I have written 31 pages of travel journal for class and I'm a little pooped out from all that.
12 January 2009 Monday
Our first full day in Ecuador! Much to everyone's dismay, we were not allowed to take cameras or bags out with us since Quito just isn't that safe. We found out that there was no romantically pretty "old city" nor a proper tour. Instead, we met up with Dr. Cliff Kyle, who used to teach at UD and now works at a Catholic University here in Quito. We had to take a bus to get there - one that runs only north and south. Fifteen of us first tried to enter through the exit of the bus station, then had to change paper money into 15 quarters for our individual fees. When a bus came, we all stepped aside to let people off, leaving only enough time for Becca and Dr. Shriver to board before the doors closed. Dr. Shriver looked horrified as the bus drove off without the rest of the group. Luckily our TA Sarah was with us and rounded us up for the next bus... This time we didn't hesitate and all got on fine. We then rode seven stops standing and squished between each other and a bunch of Ecuadorians. Our first adventure!
Dr. Kyle took us around what he called a safe and touristy area, but it didn't look like what I would call a nice part of town. Not that it was terrible, just a mish mosh of things I wasn't expecting. There are some new or well-kept buildings, but they are peppered in between older, weathered ones and bordered by crumbling sidewalks. (Our guide Pablo says there are no restrictions for what to build where, so there are no specific districts and often no division between rich and poor neighborhoods) This was also the place where I first saw the Ecuadorian substitute for barbed wire: glass shards stuck in a thin layer of concrete. As a consolation prize, there are plants everywhere and they're always in flower because the climate is so stable here.
We went to lunch at a nice open air cafe in a little square and had our first of what would be become many beautiful, delicious meals. From that point on, everyone knew that we were definitely not roughing it on this trip. Dr. Kyle took us back to his university and proudly presented the herbarium (a collection of dried plant specimens, not the greenhouse I was expecting) and the entomological collection. He pulled out drawer after drawer of some pretty awesome insects, bringing out at least 3 or 4 more after he'd decided it was the last one.
Most of us had dinner back at the hotel, then took advantage of the pool and hot tub for some quality group bonding time.
I see I do not have the capacity to be brief... I'll do my best to finish updating about this week before we leave tomorrow morning.
13 January 2009 Tuesday
Woke up early for breakfast at the hotel, then piled on the bus and headed for Pululahua (say: poo-loo-LAH-wah). We drove through Quito a bit and got to see more of the city. When I spotted a single goat tethered on a corner, I knew it was time to take photos. I snapped about 100 pictures out of the bus window and you can see them here! They are not the greatest, but you can get an idea of what South America looks like.
We arrived earlier than expected to the El Crater hotel, so we dropped our bags off and went on what Pablo called a "short hike" that was actually a 6 mile hike down Pululahua volcano, around the agricultural zone in the crater, and back up the mountain. Downhill took a while because everyone was overwhelmed by taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery. The crater was very interesting - about 300 people live and farm there, but it doesn't look like anyone's around. The houses are small and pieced together out of concrete walls and sheets of metal. We did see a bunch of people passing us on the mountain trail, going up on horseback or on foot like the incline was no big deal. The way back up was intense. I had to stop to catch my breath every 20 paces because of the incline, the altitude, and my lack of exercise as of late. I was passed by, among others, an old woman wearing loafers.
Returning to El Crater was very nice. A hot shower and hot food were just what our tired muscles needed. And thus began our string of three course meals. After dinner, I attempted to nap but couldn't sleep very well because it was so cold. We had our first class discussion, then went back to the restaurant for dinner (surprise surprise). The altitude and tough hike was taking a toll on me, so I went to bed right afterwards.
14 January 2009 Wednesday
Deb and I woke up to find that it was still cold, our windows were still foggy, and all of our clothes were still damp. We had breakfast at the restaurant, then loaded onto the bus and headed for the Mindo Valley. We stopped at El Pahuma Orchid Reserve, which is something like 170 hectares of cloud forest set aside as a spectacled bear habitat. Pablo that they are not aggressive animals, but when provoked will not hesitate to *smacking motion*... they will not hold back. Regrettably, our thundering herd of 15 (okay, we're not THAT bad) did not see anything as big as a bear. Except maybe some ginormous leaves. We hiked uphill for about an hour and a half trying to reach a waterfall near the top of mountain, but had to turn back at 11:30 so we could make it to Sachatamia in time for lunch. If I had to pick a word of the day, it would be "slippery." We walked back down in a line, warning the people behind of particularly muddy spots. A few of us took some spills, but nothing too serious.
We bussed to Sachatamia, a cloud forest reserve with lodge and cabanas for guests. All of the buildings have signs asking you not to enter with shoes (it's always rainy and muddy), so of course I felt at home. More hummingbirds than I've ever seen were buzzing about the front of the lodge eating from feeders. It was pretty magical. Some people had rooms upstairs in the main house, while the rest of us walked a little ways to private cabanas. I spent the afternoon preparing for discussion, went to discussion, then went down to dinner. On the way back to the cabin, Steph and I decided to go for a walk with Adam, Jon, and Becca instead of turning in. We were out for over an hour with flashlights and headlamps, prowling for the kind of nightlife you can only find in the rain forest. It was raining, but the trees kept us from getting too soaked. We found a bunch of huge katydid-looking insects, weevils, walking sticks, anoles, tiny frogs, and the coolest bug I've ever seen with its babies all in a line behind it on a tree. I will post the picture when I upload it to Flickr.
15 January 2009 Thursday
Woke up once again to damp air and damp clothes. The cloud forest is rainy almost all the time and nothing ever really dries. After breakfast, Ashley organized a zipline hike in the forest behind the lodge. Two Sachatamia guides took us on a hike with a rope swing and two ziplines (harnessed!) over big open canopies. Running off of a ledge was definitely frightening, but the feeling of gliding above the trees was wonderful and actually quite peaceful. I came in fast on my first landing and instead of touching down lightly, I slid into home, colliding with the people who were trying to snap a picture of me. Oddly enough, the hardest part of the hike didn't involve any forest or mud - it was the uphill trail back up to the lodge area at the very end. It felt like Palulahua all over again... though I did feel better with each hike we went on.
I showered before lunch, but all for naught because it was raining and we took yet another hike after eating. We all piled into two pickup trucks, including 6 or 7 people in the sheltered and bench-equipped truck beds, to ride to the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation. There was room in the trucks' cabs, but the last of us opted to sit in back for the experience. And it WAS an experience. Bumpy, slightly rainy, uncomfortable, and at times terrifying. Our drivers barreled down two-lane roads, passed and were passed in the other lane, and made an inexplicable stop on a curve.
MCF is a bird reserve and budding (no pun intended) shade tree coffee farm on reclaimed cattle pasture. The director (I think) of the foundation, Brian, took us on another of those "walks" in the rain to where the coffee was planted - a pretty tough hike just to get to the crops. Maybe there was a short cut he wasn't telling us about... The coffee plants are only about 2 years old and not ready to be harvested, but we did get to pick a few red berries. Brian showed us how to pop the white coffee beans out of the fruits and how to eat the red skin part. It was sweet, but had the same leafy kind of taste as pomegranate. There was another scary ride back to the lodge and as if Mary's earlier wish ("I hope the lights go out!") had come true, the power went out. The Sachatamia staff fired up the generator and were wonderful about keeping us happy and well-fed despite the outage. After dinner, a flashlighted card game turned into a long conversation about ghosts, which naturally turned to contemplation about the meaning of life. When Steph and I returned to our cabin (only next door to the one we had been in), we were pretty freaked out. The power had returned by then, but just as we were going to bed, there was a flashing light on our ceiling that shouldn't have been there. Fearing ghosts, we turned the lights on and talked ourselves to sleep. The power went out again before our eyes closed, though.
16 January 2009 Friday
Friday morning I spent catching up on journal entries (also playing pool in the main house) and missing out on a sunny morning. After lunch, we took another terrifying truck ride, this time to the Mariposario (Butterfly garden) just outside of Mindo. This one involved using the other lane to pass a cow in the road, an Ecuadorian truck driver who did NOT observe safe following distance to scare us, and our driver taking the truck through standing water... also to scare us. I don't think any of us would have traded that experience for the comfort of the cab.
The Mariposario dazzled right off the bat with huge caterpillars in aquariums and an impressive cabinet of pupae (pronounced POOP-ah by the woman who showed us in), including freshly metamorphosed butterflies drying their wings. We went into a small garden with 10 or 12 species of butterfly fluttering about and drinking nectar from flowers. We could even pick them up with a little chunk of watermelon on our fingers for them to eat. I wasn't having much luck until the end when I secured one and it wouldn't leave my finger. Then a particularly friendly Blue Morpho decided that I smelled awfully tasty and kept landing on me. It wasn't interested in watermelon, but was very happy to extend its wet little proboscis onto my wrist and lap up the sweat from under my watch. I had to coax it very slowly into the hands of an older British lady when we realized that the rest of our group had left the garden a long time ago.
We scrapped our plans to go into the town of Mindo, as we'd passed through on the way in and didn't want to unleash a crowd of sweaty kids from the backs of two pickups. Instead we took another ride back to Sachatamia and had dinner there, where the power was out yet again. It was on and off all night, dashing hopes of checking out the hot tub and also being able to see clearly. I had given the staff a bagful of my laundry the day before and by some miracle, it had been washed and dried at some point when the power was actually on. This was especially wonderful because I'd run out of pants to wear and shorts were getting a bit cold.
17 January 2009 Saturday
Attempted to wake up early and go searching for Howler monkeys, but 4 am is awfully early when you've been up late writing journal entries by flashlight. Steph and I woke up at 7:30 instead, repacked, and went to breakfast. Pablo and our driver, Claudio arrived after breakfast and we loaded the bus to head back to the Dann Cartlon in Quito. I fell asleep for most of the ride, then we stopped at Inti-nan Solar Museum, the site of the GPS-defined equator. We saw some replicas of indigenous peoples' houses (and one hundreds of years old original) and did some sweet gravity experiments. Our guide kept asking us to move to the northern hemisphere, now step over to the southern hemisphere please. It never gets old. Afterward it was back to the bus and back to the Dann Carlton. Some people had great intentions of going out to eat, but caved to room service as we didn't have lunch and everyone was tired. Bethany, Katy, and I had dinner at the hotel restaurant and I've been blogging ever since.
Tomorrow we are leaving the hotel at 6:30 to catch a plane to the Galapagos Islands. We will be on a cruise for 8 days and seven nights, snorkeling, island hopping, and getting to know each other reeeeeeally well. I won't have internet, but I'll keep track of what happens and of course document every frigate bird we see. Expect me back Sunday at the earliest, when we'll be on Santa Cruz island and hopefully hooked into the ol' intertubes. Don't forget to check out Deb's blog for a more concise and entertaining account of our adventures. Link's on the right.
Take care up there in the cold. I will be baking under equatorial sun and swimming with the fishes (in the best way possible).
P.S. I love comments!
P.P.S. Never fear about the glasses! We had some rough times (lens falling out 5 or 6 times during hikes, lens falling out after night hike and disappearing for 20 minutes in in a bed of green in the rainy dark), but we are friends again. I taped the sucker into the frames with pieces of Band-Aid cut with my Swiss Army knife's scissors. I look pretty stylish. People keep telling me that they don't even notice the tape. I'm not sure I believe them. Anyways, everything is alright. Now I have something to do when I get home, right?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
mindo mindo mindo
I am alive and having a wonderful time at the Sachatamia Lodge in the Mindo Valley. In about 20 minutes, some of us are going on a hike and zipline. After lunch we are piling in the back of pickup trucks (everyone is very excited about this) to visit a bird sanctuary. I will update more later tonight, but for now you can see what we've been doing over at Deb's blog. Click "Spotted! A Blue Hen in the Galapagos" on the right side.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Arrival
We have arrived in Quito! Our flight to Miami went off without a hitch... Miami to Quito wasn't as smooth, though. Boarding took a long time, then we had to wait on the runway for a while, and the flight was sorta bumpy. My glasses sustained an unfortunate injury at the beginning of the flight. I was cleaning them and tried to push the one lens that has always been too big back into the frame, and the frame broke. Fortunately, Mary's dad made her pack superglue, so I'll try to make use of that tomorrow.
I can't really tell what Quito is like yet, as it was dark when we arrived. Our tour guide said that the city is very long and thin - about 48 miles long and 6 miles at the widest. Quito has is the second highest airport in the world, so we're pretty high up compared to ol' sea level Delaware. The first thing I noticed as we landed was that the lights went up onto hills instead of just sprawling out. I think the altitude may be affecting me. I feel a bit lightheaded and queasy but it might just be the combination of tiredness and some greasy Chinese food I had at the Miami airport.
My roommate Bethany and I are currently waiting on room service tuna sandwiches. We are not sure if they will, in fact, be tuna sandwiches, or how we will pay for them, but we'll figure it out.
Alright they just came and are much fancier than expected. Off to nourishment!
I can't really tell what Quito is like yet, as it was dark when we arrived. Our tour guide said that the city is very long and thin - about 48 miles long and 6 miles at the widest. Quito has is the second highest airport in the world, so we're pretty high up compared to ol' sea level Delaware. The first thing I noticed as we landed was that the lights went up onto hills instead of just sprawling out. I think the altitude may be affecting me. I feel a bit lightheaded and queasy but it might just be the combination of tiredness and some greasy Chinese food I had at the Miami airport.
My roommate Bethany and I are currently waiting on room service tuna sandwiches. We are not sure if they will, in fact, be tuna sandwiches, or how we will pay for them, but we'll figure it out.
Alright they just came and are much fancier than expected. Off to nourishment!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Itinerary
It doesn't feel like I'm going to be on a plane in less than 12 hours. I'm feeling a little nervous and like I've forgotten to pack things that I'll need. I have an abnormally small bag to check and the feeling of taking so little is completely alien to me. So after this post, I'm going to do a little inventory.
For now, how about another "I" word? Itinerary! Here's what I'm going to be doing in the near future.
Sunday 1/11:
flight from PHL to Miami
2 hour lay-over
flight from Miami to Quito
Monday 1/12:
Old City sightseeing in Quito
Tuesday 1/13:
Colonial City Tour in Quito
Travel to Pululahua Crater
Visit Middle of the World complex
Etnographical museum (I have no idea what this is)
Visit Pululahua Crater and Geobotanical Reserve
Wednesday 1/14:
6 am photo walk (whooo!)
Pahuma Orchid Reserve
Butterfly Farm
Observation of hummingbirds, etc in Mindo Valley cloud forest
Thursday 1/15:
6 am photo walk (the fun does not end!)
Assorted guided tours and excursions in Mindo Valley cloud forest
Tour of Shade Tree coffee farm
Evening insect sampling (To tell you the truth, I first thought we were going to be tasting insects. On second thought, perhaps we are collecting insects from the field.)
Friday 1/16:
6 am photo walk
More guided tours and excursions in Mindo Valley cloud forest
Visit butterfly farm
Saturday 1/17:
Free day in Mindo Valley
Return to Quito
I will post info about the next week as it draws closer. From 1/18 to 1/24, we will be on a cruise in the Galapagos Islands without internet access. I'll update beforehand and will keep writing even when I can't post.
Alright, off to finalize plans and packing. Next time, I'll be writing from South America!
For now, how about another "I" word? Itinerary! Here's what I'm going to be doing in the near future.
Sunday 1/11:
flight from PHL to Miami
2 hour lay-over
flight from Miami to Quito
Monday 1/12:
Old City sightseeing in Quito
Tuesday 1/13:
Colonial City Tour in Quito
Travel to Pululahua Crater
Visit Middle of the World complex
Etnographical museum (I have no idea what this is)
Visit Pululahua Crater and Geobotanical Reserve
Wednesday 1/14:
6 am photo walk (whooo!)
Pahuma Orchid Reserve
Butterfly Farm
Observation of hummingbirds, etc in Mindo Valley cloud forest
Thursday 1/15:
6 am photo walk (the fun does not end!)
Assorted guided tours and excursions in Mindo Valley cloud forest
Tour of Shade Tree coffee farm
Evening insect sampling (To tell you the truth, I first thought we were going to be tasting insects. On second thought, perhaps we are collecting insects from the field.)
Friday 1/16:
6 am photo walk
More guided tours and excursions in Mindo Valley cloud forest
Visit butterfly farm
Saturday 1/17:
Free day in Mindo Valley
Return to Quito
I will post info about the next week as it draws closer. From 1/18 to 1/24, we will be on a cruise in the Galapagos Islands without internet access. I'll update beforehand and will keep writing even when I can't post.
Alright, off to finalize plans and packing. Next time, I'll be writing from South America!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, February 4, 2008
busy busy busy
I'm still alive and having fun. Very busy though. Hopefully I will be able to update tomorrow.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
checking in
We are back in at Lincoln from our little adventure to Dunedin. I'm not up to writing a full run-down right now, but let's just say the past few days have been packed with uncomfortable bus rides, penguin watching, and spending a bunch of money at a little craft market and at CADBURY WORLD. and some more bus riding. We really only had one full day in Dunedin, which was definitely not enough. Tomorrow we are frolicking around Christchurch and hopefully I'll get a blog in at night. And maybe even some school work. Crazy.
Anyways, I had a fun couple of days. Oh, and I saw Death at a Funeral last night. I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for a hectic, hilarious British comedy.
More later.
Anyways, I had a fun couple of days. Oh, and I saw Death at a Funeral last night. I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for a hectic, hilarious British comedy.
More later.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Kaikoura and the beginning of Christchurch
Hello from Lincoln University in Christchurch! It's 7:45 pm on Wednesday the 23rd, so we have almost exactly two more weeks left here. It's funny to think that it's so soon, but I think by then I will be ready. I'm not looking forward to it being cold and probably snowy, but it's going to be nice to just be at home.
I apologize for the lack of photo update. I'm on an outdated machine in the computer lab and it would be a pain to get all my stuff onto Flickr. I will try to commandeer someone's laptop soon and get it done.
So Sunday was our Interislander ferry ride from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. It was about three hours, the last half of which was packed with fabulous views. A bus picked us up in Picton and after struggling to get all of our bags in the bottom compartments, we drove about 2 hours to Kaikoura.
We arrived at our hostel, the Dusky Lodge, and packed in four or six people to a room. Kaikoura is definitely a one-horse town and there wasn't much to do, so Charles, Melody, and I rented bikes from the lodge and went for a ride for what must have been 2.5 hours. We went down probably 6km on one road, hoping to find the "Forest Walk." But we ran into a long portion of road that was gravel, not paved, and extremely hard to ride because of the surface and slight incline. I walked most of the way because pedalling was pretty much impossible. The Forest Walk was apparently an hour-long thing and we were pretty spent by then, so we agreed to just sit a bit and tell everyone we got to the top of the mountain a few hundred yards away. The ride back was mostly downhill so it was a lot easier and a whole lot faster. I don't think I've ever gone that fast for so long on a bike. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time, especially on the gravel.
After returning the bikes, the three of us went into town to find dinner. We settled on a bar type place without realizing that they served tapas-style plates, which are meant to be shared. We just got one each, though, and watched Phil Collins music videos for a while before moving on to another place to top off our stomachs. While we waited for our food we played a game of pool (I am Horrible with a capital H) and Charles spotted a man who kept looking over at us. Later, the same man directed me to the silverware without me asking, then approached us and asked us if we were from Delaware, had we come in on the ferry today, and were we going whale watching tomorrow? Turns out he was going to be our bus driver. Sorta creepy.
Later that night Charles and I walked down to the beach to check out some stars. We found Orion but I couldn't spot the Southern Cross. Which was disappointing because I learned to find it really easily when I was in Australia and was sad when I went home and couldn't see it again. I guess it was just really comforting to know that when I looked up, it would always be there. I'll have to get someone to point it out to me again.
Anyway, the whale watch was Monday morning aaaaand it was the bumpiest, most nauseating boat ride I have ever been on. 3/4 of the people on the boat ended up making use of the large supply of seasickness bags, me included. The captain found us a sperm whale hanging out on the surface, refueling from an hour long deep sea dive. And true to form, I cried. Partly because I was amazed at being so close to such a huge creature, and partly because I was nauseous and hyperventilating. I got the all important whale tail photos as he dove down again, and then I was ready to go back to terra firma. Much to my chagrin, though, the captain found another whale and we had to ride around to find him and watch him spout for a few minutes. At this point we had been in and out of the cabin about five times, which made the seasickness even worse. And THEN we found a huge pod of dusky dolphins and had to get in and out to see them too. They were quite fun to watch but we had been on the boat entirely too long. I was feeling terrible but I thought my breakfast was going to stay put, but I couldn't make it through the ride home. My friend Brittany described the cabin as "like a horror movie" with everyone getting sick and all. A bunch of us just laid on the ground after we got off the boat. Horrible. We heard it was going to be a little rough that day but no one could have anticipated how bad 2m swells would be. Apparently the last group our bus driver had didn't have any problems and loved the whale watch. So it was neat to see the whales and the dolphins and I got some nice pictures, but I am absolutely traumatized and don't want to go on a boat, much less a whale watch, for a very long time.
After that terrible experience, everyone recovered for an hour or so in Kaikoura before getting on the bus again for the drive to Lincoln. In the span of about two hours, with a stop to look at a seal colony, we rode down the coast (rated the world's #12 scenic coast drive, evidently) and through miles and miles of dry farmland. We arrived at Lincoln University outside of Christchurch. The place is very isolated, with a few businesses and one pub down the road. It's an agriculture/science university with only 3000 students, but since it's summer there are only 250 enrolled. There's also a hoarde of cricket players from around the country staying here for some summer program. So people were a little worried about not having anything to do ever. Another UD Study Abroad group met us and showed us to our rooms. They are on an Animal Science program and are staying here for their whole time, save free weekends and farm visits. It felt like being back in Delaware, not in New Zealand. I feel like I know or have seen every other person on that trip from classes or 4-H camp or something. Very odd.
Tuesday the whole group was supposed to meet for class and housekeeping matters at 9:15 am but we had to wait for an hour before our professors showed up with a representative from the university. Needless to say, the feelings of pessimism and unease from the previous day resurfaced in everyone. This trip is tough because 1) our professors have never done this before and 2) we move around so much. So there's a lot of moving and waiting and not knowing what the heck is going on.
By the time we got to class we didn't have much time left so we had a short meeting, only discussing one of the three stories on our syllabus. We read out loud and then we were made to act it out, as our reading apparently was too awkward to get a feel for the action of the story. Great. It was quite awkward but also entertaining to watch our friends up on "stage" making fools of themselves. I got to be an albatross, flying across the room twice and ignoring the other characters. I hear there are pictures, so hopefully I can get my hands (wings?) on those. I bet they're gorgeous.
Theeen we piled on the bus again for a brief tour of Christchurch. It started raining on the way there and when we got to a lookout point it was gusting and raining and terribly foggy. We couldn't see anything and my umbrella was blown inside-out twice. Again, unrest and negativity. We were then dropped off in the town of Christchurch to go to a tourist information centre and wander around the wet streets for an hour. So fun. Then back to Lincoln, where the power was out and we had to move our scheduled barbeque dinner inside. It was delicious, by the way. At night a small group of us ended up sitting in the hallway and talking. It was like the freshman year dorm experience I never had. It was nice, actually.
Today I was on my way to an Independent Study meeting and I locked myself IN my dorm room and had to climb out the window to get to the office and request help. Thank goodness I'm on the first floor. The cleaning ladies (who are the happiest cleaning ladies I've ever seen, by the way) considered vaulting each other into the window to get it from the inside. So I missed the meeting while I waited for a maintenance guy to come. He had to climb in the window and figured out that it was just a little button thing that locks the latch in place. I got to the classroom just as the other class was about to start, so I just stayed for it, as I wanted to hear the discussion about one of the poems they were working on. Afterwards we waited a while for the Lincoln guy to come get us to distribute ID cards (for logging onto the computers and swiping into buildings, etc) before leaving to get lunch when he didn't show. We found him on the way and got our cards and then had lunch. Aaaand then we bussed into Christchurch again for our alternative Folklore class. Our professor hired a storyteller to well, tell us some stories at the Botanical Gardens.
The lady came in a green patterned cape, and with a carved staff and perpetually twinkling eyes. She was the type of person who's absolutely delighted to be alive and talking to people. Thus she was really great at telling stories. Unfortunately though, we were outside with a big group that was hard to manage in slightly overgrown forest trails. Plus she was telling longer versions of stories we'd already heard 10 times so far and we didn't realize it would be so long. But it was alright. Afterwards we were left in the city of Christchurch for about an hour, during which we wandered around through shops and outdoor merchant tables. There's the World Buskers Festival happening in the city right now, but when we were there everyone was wrapped or wrapping up. Disappointing, but I'm sure we will see some cool performers/performances another day.
Whew. Blogging is seriously hard work. I've been at this for quite a while but I'm all caught up now. Tomorrow we are off to Dunedin. We were supposed to go to the theatre, but the only thing playing is a psychic show. Our one professor has booked us for the event, though, so we'll see what happens. My third eye forsees generalizations and lame jokes. Oh well. The ride is apparently 6 hours (oy) and we will be there Thursday night, Friday, and part of Saturday. Then it's back to Christchurch for an action-packed day in town at the Botanical Gardens, Canterbury Museum, Art Centre market, and hopefully some buskers. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. Maybe Saturday night. Or Sunday. Or Monday. See you then, internet.
I apologize for the lack of photo update. I'm on an outdated machine in the computer lab and it would be a pain to get all my stuff onto Flickr. I will try to commandeer someone's laptop soon and get it done.
So Sunday was our Interislander ferry ride from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. It was about three hours, the last half of which was packed with fabulous views. A bus picked us up in Picton and after struggling to get all of our bags in the bottom compartments, we drove about 2 hours to Kaikoura.
We arrived at our hostel, the Dusky Lodge, and packed in four or six people to a room. Kaikoura is definitely a one-horse town and there wasn't much to do, so Charles, Melody, and I rented bikes from the lodge and went for a ride for what must have been 2.5 hours. We went down probably 6km on one road, hoping to find the "Forest Walk." But we ran into a long portion of road that was gravel, not paved, and extremely hard to ride because of the surface and slight incline. I walked most of the way because pedalling was pretty much impossible. The Forest Walk was apparently an hour-long thing and we were pretty spent by then, so we agreed to just sit a bit and tell everyone we got to the top of the mountain a few hundred yards away. The ride back was mostly downhill so it was a lot easier and a whole lot faster. I don't think I've ever gone that fast for so long on a bike. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time, especially on the gravel.
After returning the bikes, the three of us went into town to find dinner. We settled on a bar type place without realizing that they served tapas-style plates, which are meant to be shared. We just got one each, though, and watched Phil Collins music videos for a while before moving on to another place to top off our stomachs. While we waited for our food we played a game of pool (I am Horrible with a capital H) and Charles spotted a man who kept looking over at us. Later, the same man directed me to the silverware without me asking, then approached us and asked us if we were from Delaware, had we come in on the ferry today, and were we going whale watching tomorrow? Turns out he was going to be our bus driver. Sorta creepy.
Later that night Charles and I walked down to the beach to check out some stars. We found Orion but I couldn't spot the Southern Cross. Which was disappointing because I learned to find it really easily when I was in Australia and was sad when I went home and couldn't see it again. I guess it was just really comforting to know that when I looked up, it would always be there. I'll have to get someone to point it out to me again.
Anyway, the whale watch was Monday morning aaaaand it was the bumpiest, most nauseating boat ride I have ever been on. 3/4 of the people on the boat ended up making use of the large supply of seasickness bags, me included. The captain found us a sperm whale hanging out on the surface, refueling from an hour long deep sea dive. And true to form, I cried. Partly because I was amazed at being so close to such a huge creature, and partly because I was nauseous and hyperventilating. I got the all important whale tail photos as he dove down again, and then I was ready to go back to terra firma. Much to my chagrin, though, the captain found another whale and we had to ride around to find him and watch him spout for a few minutes. At this point we had been in and out of the cabin about five times, which made the seasickness even worse. And THEN we found a huge pod of dusky dolphins and had to get in and out to see them too. They were quite fun to watch but we had been on the boat entirely too long. I was feeling terrible but I thought my breakfast was going to stay put, but I couldn't make it through the ride home. My friend Brittany described the cabin as "like a horror movie" with everyone getting sick and all. A bunch of us just laid on the ground after we got off the boat. Horrible. We heard it was going to be a little rough that day but no one could have anticipated how bad 2m swells would be. Apparently the last group our bus driver had didn't have any problems and loved the whale watch. So it was neat to see the whales and the dolphins and I got some nice pictures, but I am absolutely traumatized and don't want to go on a boat, much less a whale watch, for a very long time.
After that terrible experience, everyone recovered for an hour or so in Kaikoura before getting on the bus again for the drive to Lincoln. In the span of about two hours, with a stop to look at a seal colony, we rode down the coast (rated the world's #12 scenic coast drive, evidently) and through miles and miles of dry farmland. We arrived at Lincoln University outside of Christchurch. The place is very isolated, with a few businesses and one pub down the road. It's an agriculture/science university with only 3000 students, but since it's summer there are only 250 enrolled. There's also a hoarde of cricket players from around the country staying here for some summer program. So people were a little worried about not having anything to do ever. Another UD Study Abroad group met us and showed us to our rooms. They are on an Animal Science program and are staying here for their whole time, save free weekends and farm visits. It felt like being back in Delaware, not in New Zealand. I feel like I know or have seen every other person on that trip from classes or 4-H camp or something. Very odd.
Tuesday the whole group was supposed to meet for class and housekeeping matters at 9:15 am but we had to wait for an hour before our professors showed up with a representative from the university. Needless to say, the feelings of pessimism and unease from the previous day resurfaced in everyone. This trip is tough because 1) our professors have never done this before and 2) we move around so much. So there's a lot of moving and waiting and not knowing what the heck is going on.
By the time we got to class we didn't have much time left so we had a short meeting, only discussing one of the three stories on our syllabus. We read out loud and then we were made to act it out, as our reading apparently was too awkward to get a feel for the action of the story. Great. It was quite awkward but also entertaining to watch our friends up on "stage" making fools of themselves. I got to be an albatross, flying across the room twice and ignoring the other characters. I hear there are pictures, so hopefully I can get my hands (wings?) on those. I bet they're gorgeous.
Theeen we piled on the bus again for a brief tour of Christchurch. It started raining on the way there and when we got to a lookout point it was gusting and raining and terribly foggy. We couldn't see anything and my umbrella was blown inside-out twice. Again, unrest and negativity. We were then dropped off in the town of Christchurch to go to a tourist information centre and wander around the wet streets for an hour. So fun. Then back to Lincoln, where the power was out and we had to move our scheduled barbeque dinner inside. It was delicious, by the way. At night a small group of us ended up sitting in the hallway and talking. It was like the freshman year dorm experience I never had. It was nice, actually.
Today I was on my way to an Independent Study meeting and I locked myself IN my dorm room and had to climb out the window to get to the office and request help. Thank goodness I'm on the first floor. The cleaning ladies (who are the happiest cleaning ladies I've ever seen, by the way) considered vaulting each other into the window to get it from the inside. So I missed the meeting while I waited for a maintenance guy to come. He had to climb in the window and figured out that it was just a little button thing that locks the latch in place. I got to the classroom just as the other class was about to start, so I just stayed for it, as I wanted to hear the discussion about one of the poems they were working on. Afterwards we waited a while for the Lincoln guy to come get us to distribute ID cards (for logging onto the computers and swiping into buildings, etc) before leaving to get lunch when he didn't show. We found him on the way and got our cards and then had lunch. Aaaand then we bussed into Christchurch again for our alternative Folklore class. Our professor hired a storyteller to well, tell us some stories at the Botanical Gardens.
The lady came in a green patterned cape, and with a carved staff and perpetually twinkling eyes. She was the type of person who's absolutely delighted to be alive and talking to people. Thus she was really great at telling stories. Unfortunately though, we were outside with a big group that was hard to manage in slightly overgrown forest trails. Plus she was telling longer versions of stories we'd already heard 10 times so far and we didn't realize it would be so long. But it was alright. Afterwards we were left in the city of Christchurch for about an hour, during which we wandered around through shops and outdoor merchant tables. There's the World Buskers Festival happening in the city right now, but when we were there everyone was wrapped or wrapping up. Disappointing, but I'm sure we will see some cool performers/performances another day.
Whew. Blogging is seriously hard work. I've been at this for quite a while but I'm all caught up now. Tomorrow we are off to Dunedin. We were supposed to go to the theatre, but the only thing playing is a psychic show. Our one professor has booked us for the event, though, so we'll see what happens. My third eye forsees generalizations and lame jokes. Oh well. The ride is apparently 6 hours (oy) and we will be there Thursday night, Friday, and part of Saturday. Then it's back to Christchurch for an action-packed day in town at the Botanical Gardens, Canterbury Museum, Art Centre market, and hopefully some buskers. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. Maybe Saturday night. Or Sunday. Or Monday. See you then, internet.
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