I just got back from a night walk along a trail called Numa. I spotted a big tree frog, saw a scorpion spider, and more conga ants than I wanted to. We went up in a canopy tower and found a few tarantulas living in the hand railings. On the way down I saw a conga ant trying to reach my shirt- not cool. It was very misty at the top of the tower, but when we turned off our lights our eyes adjusted.
On the jungle floor we switched off our lights also, and it was about as dark as it is inside a cave. Up above some light was filtering through the canopy, making it look like there were big dull stars overhead. The sky is overcast though, but hopefully we can go sleep in a tower soon and watch the sun set and rise!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Deep in Amazonian Ecuador
I am in the Amazon Rainforest! and have been for 16 some days? The internet here is by satellite and this has been the first time I have been able to access this site to post anything. The generator is off for the night, so my computer battery is about to go, if the internet doesn't first. It is so nice here, and it is amazing to actually be somewhere that civilization noise cannot reach. The only sounds here besides those of the jungle crickets, frogs, birds and monkeys is the oil drilling company which is 2 hours away by boat, and then an hour by an open-top bus. But I can only hear the operation sometimes, and mostly at night. It is much quieter here than I expected, kind of like summer time at home, except when the monkeys start making racket. At least I think it was monkeys...
It took about 10 hours to get here, we took an airplane, a bus, a long ride down the Napo River to Bloc 16 where the oil operation is, then a boat down the Tiputini River to where I am now, the Tiputini Biodiversity station. The boats are very long and metal with two 75 hp motors. We got stuck once, but not too badly.
My day here starts at 6am, breakfast at 6:30 and then the generator comes on at about 10am until about 1pm. Lunch is at 12, and the generator comes back on at about 6pm to 9:30pm, and dinner is at 7. The water here is filtered directly from the river, so there are no hot showers, so bathing in the river is awesome! I only take a shower every few days since the river is more fun, but I took one tonight that was pretty cold and unpleasant! They provide biodegradable soap here for us since the water goes back to the river.
The problems with swimming in the river though are the sting rays (so we have been told not to touch the bottom), the current (which we tested out by swimming to the other dock and I almost missed it and got carried off), the cayman that likes to hang around the dock and eat leftovers the cooks throw out, the stinging/candiru catfish, and the piranhas (my teacher says they won't bite us but I'm not so sure!) Other than that the river is great!
The humidity here stays at about 100 percent and its usually about 90 degrees here in the day, mid 80's at night. The only place that has air conditioning is the lab/library where we keep our computers and where the books are kept. I'll put up pictures when I get a chance.
Since the humidity is so high, my backpacks have grown mold in them. Pretty gross. I have been waiting for it to stop raining (it has been pretty constantly since Friday) so I can put them in the sun and hopefully dry them out a bit. It is more into the dry season, so the weather is pretty nice.
I get to see monkeys pretty often, and I hear way more birds than I actually see. The toucans sounds like puppies out in the forest! Right now I hear bugs singing, and something thats barking/hooting off in the forest. Oh- and there are fireflies here too!
My battery is almost gone, so I will post more when I get a chance!
It took about 10 hours to get here, we took an airplane, a bus, a long ride down the Napo River to Bloc 16 where the oil operation is, then a boat down the Tiputini River to where I am now, the Tiputini Biodiversity station. The boats are very long and metal with two 75 hp motors. We got stuck once, but not too badly.
My day here starts at 6am, breakfast at 6:30 and then the generator comes on at about 10am until about 1pm. Lunch is at 12, and the generator comes back on at about 6pm to 9:30pm, and dinner is at 7. The water here is filtered directly from the river, so there are no hot showers, so bathing in the river is awesome! I only take a shower every few days since the river is more fun, but I took one tonight that was pretty cold and unpleasant! They provide biodegradable soap here for us since the water goes back to the river.
The problems with swimming in the river though are the sting rays (so we have been told not to touch the bottom), the current (which we tested out by swimming to the other dock and I almost missed it and got carried off), the cayman that likes to hang around the dock and eat leftovers the cooks throw out, the stinging/candiru catfish, and the piranhas (my teacher says they won't bite us but I'm not so sure!) Other than that the river is great!
The humidity here stays at about 100 percent and its usually about 90 degrees here in the day, mid 80's at night. The only place that has air conditioning is the lab/library where we keep our computers and where the books are kept. I'll put up pictures when I get a chance.
Since the humidity is so high, my backpacks have grown mold in them. Pretty gross. I have been waiting for it to stop raining (it has been pretty constantly since Friday) so I can put them in the sun and hopefully dry them out a bit. It is more into the dry season, so the weather is pretty nice.
I get to see monkeys pretty often, and I hear way more birds than I actually see. The toucans sounds like puppies out in the forest! Right now I hear bugs singing, and something thats barking/hooting off in the forest. Oh- and there are fireflies here too!
My battery is almost gone, so I will post more when I get a chance!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Galapagos Islands
The week I spent in the Galapagos Islands was one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life. It is so beautiful there, and it amazes me how people can discover a place like that and be able to keep it as pristine as it is today.
We took an airplane from Quito to Guayaquil, sat at the terminal for about 35 minutes and then we were off the the Galapagos! After about an hour and a half plane ride, we arrived at the island of Baltra where we unloaded our luggage and took a bus to the bay where our yacht- the Daphne was waiting. The crew took over our luggage and we took a little zodiac- called a panga- to the yacht. The yacht was not huge, like a cruise ship or anything, but pretty big. It could hold 16 people, besides the crew. We picked our rooms and got situated while we traveled to the first stop- a beach on Santa Cruz (Playa las Bachas). The beach on Santa Cruz was wonderful, the sand was organic and brushed right off without sticking. It was made up of coral pieces chewed up by parrot fish. After our walk we got our first chance to swim off the Galapagos! I went in slower than most everyone else- they are from Boston and think the water is warm. ha! The water was very clear- a beautiful turquoise. and sparkled like I have never seen. That night we had a welcome cocktail and the crew were all introduced. The boat captain looked exactly how I would imagine one to look. He was very dark skinned, shaved head, with an octopus tattoo on his right shoulder, a tribal band around his arm, a tribal sea turtle on his had and lettering on his fingers. There were three chefs that made the most amazing food. Their kitchen was very small- I don't know how the managed it. The food was very healthy, we go fresh fruit juice every morning with toast, eggs, sausage, French toast, granola with yogurt, and fruits. For lunch we had differing foods, always followed by dessert, as was dinner. Every time we got done with snorkeling, they made us a snack, or hot chocolate. Our guide was named Rafa and had the funniest laugh I have ever heard. Its hard to describe, kinda like a hiah hiah hiah! if you can imagine it. His grandparents were one of the first to the Galapagos, and he grew up there. He has been all over the world and has worked for National Geographic as an underwater photographer. Very cool.
The next day, we went to the islands of South Plazas and then to Santa Fe. I got to see bunches of marine iguanas, sea lions and swallow tail gulls (one of my new favorite birds- gery, black and white plumage with red feet and red rings around its eyes)Rafa also pointed out a rare cross between a marine and land iguana. It had brownish and yellow stripes. We snorkeled around off the panga- the water was cold! Our professor, who hates the cold, was wearing a wet suit! Wet suits were available to rent for 20 dollars. I decided I could so without one. I wasn't expecting coldness that close to the equator! But the ocean current on the south side of the equator is the Humbolt Current and brings cold waters up along the coast of Peru.
The third day we went to Española. In the morning we went ashore at Punta Suárez, and then in the afternoon to Bahia Gardner (Gardner Bay). The sand on Bahia Gardner was like flour, and blindingly white.
On the fourth, we visited Floreana and went to Bahía del Correo and in the afternoon to Punta Cormorant. There we got to see the first blue footed boobie (my other new favorite bird) The chicks are soooo fuzzy. The males make a funny whistling sound- very much like the toy straw thing you twirl over your head. The females made a honking noise. They were constantly dancing (stepping slowly and skypointing- a movement where the male points his tail, beak, and wings towards the sky.) They nest on the ground and take turns incubating and caring for the chick. The day was ended with a beautiful sunset over distant islands and dolphins playing in the bow wave of the ship. That night we went into town for a few hours, and saw a high school band playing Blink 182- pretty surreal. Also to see the lights of the town after the natural darkness of the islands and sea was a bit strange.
The next day we went to the Charles Darwin Station where they incubate tortoise and iguana eggs. We were lucky enough to see lonesome George, the last of his kind. The researchers there think though that he has bred with the two females in his pin- they have found two nests of eggs and are waiting to see if they match George's DNA! Later that day we went into the highlands to see the tortoises in their natural habitat. It looked like Jurassic Park! We went into a lava tunnel, and then to an old farm where the tortuses were wandering about. They are so huge. They almost don't look real- like someone put them there to watch people's reactions who saw them. The were very easy to see, and you could tell where they had been by the flattened grass trail they left behind. That night we traveled eight hours, and I slept on the sun deck of the yacht, waking up at about 3 am when the sea got rough and my deck chair started sliding back and forth! I moved onto a more stable bench on the deck and got some sleep, then woke up at about 6 and went down to my room because I wasn't supposed to be sleeping there (the blankets supposedly would get wet and start smelling funny- or thats what the crew said- mine didn't though) A few others and I had gotten away with sleeping up top a few nights before this because we were feeling a bit seasick. I had been watching an Asian movie with subtitles as we were traveling- and that made me pretty queasy- my first ever sea sickness). Not fun. That night we crossed the equator, our guide jokingly said that we should get up at about 3am to watch the crew lift the equator so the ship could go under it, and that up until then we would be going pretty slow, but after that it would be fast since it would all be downhill from there.
Next we went to Genovesa (a half sunken volcanic crater) - visited Escaleras del Pricipe Felipe and Playa Darwin. There are so many things names after Darwin! I guess since we had traveled so far that night, I got used to the motion of the boat. Land didn't move properly after that until about yesterday! Land sickness is so strange feeling. Climbing the steps up the cliff that morning was a real struggle, as was walking around on the island. Once I got back on the boat though, I was ok. I wasn't the only one affected this way. Standing still on land I could see the others in my group swaying slightly as they tried to keep their balance. We saw frigate birds, Nazca boobies, (the tectonic place that moves the Galapagos Islands is called the Nazca Plate), and waved albatrosses. We also went to the Post Office Barrel (where people lave letters and post cards for the next groups to look though- if you or they find a letter addressed to a place near where they will be traveling, or live, they take it and hand deliver it to the people), and got to see flamingos who got there as they were blown off course by winds.
Next we moved (during the day this time- our captain and guide took pity on our lack of sleep from the night before) to Santiago and to Puerto Egas. We saw many more birds of all types, nesting, dancing, sleeping, and soaring around.
Bartolome was next. It looked as if part of Mars had come to Earth. It was covered in volcanic ash and cliffs made of hardened lava structures. One was called Pinnacle Rock, a tuff structure formed by the hardening of lava inside a volcanic peak and subsequent erosion of the surrounding soil, leaving the lava spike. One the way back to the yacht, we saw Galapagos penguins! Seeing penguins and cactus together in the same place is so incredibly contradictory! We got to snorkel near Pinnacle Rock with the penguins.
Leaving the next day was so sad. I wish I could have stayed there for a month or more. To work there as a tour guide would be the most amazing job. We took a walk before we left, everyone was quiet.
Some of the most amazing experiences there were snorkeling with the penguins, while blue footed boobies were diving for fish all around us, seeing huge Galapagos sharks, watching parrot fish chew on coral, getting stung on the face by a Portuguese man-o-war variant, seeing the bow wave glow from phosphorescents at night while dolphins played and jumped in the waves- their bodies glowing, being so close to animals without them having any fear, walking barefoot without worry, not seeing city lights for days, sleeping on the top deck under a sky filled with so many stars it was almost unreal - watching a few shoot across, and playing cards late at night with Rafa, Jame and some friends. As Rafa said at the good-bye cocktail, "You may leave the Galapagos, but the Galapagos will never leave you."
We took an airplane from Quito to Guayaquil, sat at the terminal for about 35 minutes and then we were off the the Galapagos! After about an hour and a half plane ride, we arrived at the island of Baltra where we unloaded our luggage and took a bus to the bay where our yacht- the Daphne was waiting. The crew took over our luggage and we took a little zodiac- called a panga- to the yacht. The yacht was not huge, like a cruise ship or anything, but pretty big. It could hold 16 people, besides the crew. We picked our rooms and got situated while we traveled to the first stop- a beach on Santa Cruz (Playa las Bachas). The beach on Santa Cruz was wonderful, the sand was organic and brushed right off without sticking. It was made up of coral pieces chewed up by parrot fish. After our walk we got our first chance to swim off the Galapagos! I went in slower than most everyone else- they are from Boston and think the water is warm. ha! The water was very clear- a beautiful turquoise. and sparkled like I have never seen. That night we had a welcome cocktail and the crew were all introduced. The boat captain looked exactly how I would imagine one to look. He was very dark skinned, shaved head, with an octopus tattoo on his right shoulder, a tribal band around his arm, a tribal sea turtle on his had and lettering on his fingers. There were three chefs that made the most amazing food. Their kitchen was very small- I don't know how the managed it. The food was very healthy, we go fresh fruit juice every morning with toast, eggs, sausage, French toast, granola with yogurt, and fruits. For lunch we had differing foods, always followed by dessert, as was dinner. Every time we got done with snorkeling, they made us a snack, or hot chocolate. Our guide was named Rafa and had the funniest laugh I have ever heard. Its hard to describe, kinda like a hiah hiah hiah! if you can imagine it. His grandparents were one of the first to the Galapagos, and he grew up there. He has been all over the world and has worked for National Geographic as an underwater photographer. Very cool.
The next day, we went to the islands of South Plazas and then to Santa Fe. I got to see bunches of marine iguanas, sea lions and swallow tail gulls (one of my new favorite birds- gery, black and white plumage with red feet and red rings around its eyes)Rafa also pointed out a rare cross between a marine and land iguana. It had brownish and yellow stripes. We snorkeled around off the panga- the water was cold! Our professor, who hates the cold, was wearing a wet suit! Wet suits were available to rent for 20 dollars. I decided I could so without one. I wasn't expecting coldness that close to the equator! But the ocean current on the south side of the equator is the Humbolt Current and brings cold waters up along the coast of Peru.
The third day we went to Española. In the morning we went ashore at Punta Suárez, and then in the afternoon to Bahia Gardner (Gardner Bay). The sand on Bahia Gardner was like flour, and blindingly white.
On the fourth, we visited Floreana and went to Bahía del Correo and in the afternoon to Punta Cormorant. There we got to see the first blue footed boobie (my other new favorite bird) The chicks are soooo fuzzy. The males make a funny whistling sound- very much like the toy straw thing you twirl over your head. The females made a honking noise. They were constantly dancing (stepping slowly and skypointing- a movement where the male points his tail, beak, and wings towards the sky.) They nest on the ground and take turns incubating and caring for the chick. The day was ended with a beautiful sunset over distant islands and dolphins playing in the bow wave of the ship. That night we went into town for a few hours, and saw a high school band playing Blink 182- pretty surreal. Also to see the lights of the town after the natural darkness of the islands and sea was a bit strange.
The next day we went to the Charles Darwin Station where they incubate tortoise and iguana eggs. We were lucky enough to see lonesome George, the last of his kind. The researchers there think though that he has bred with the two females in his pin- they have found two nests of eggs and are waiting to see if they match George's DNA! Later that day we went into the highlands to see the tortoises in their natural habitat. It looked like Jurassic Park! We went into a lava tunnel, and then to an old farm where the tortuses were wandering about. They are so huge. They almost don't look real- like someone put them there to watch people's reactions who saw them. The were very easy to see, and you could tell where they had been by the flattened grass trail they left behind. That night we traveled eight hours, and I slept on the sun deck of the yacht, waking up at about 3 am when the sea got rough and my deck chair started sliding back and forth! I moved onto a more stable bench on the deck and got some sleep, then woke up at about 6 and went down to my room because I wasn't supposed to be sleeping there (the blankets supposedly would get wet and start smelling funny- or thats what the crew said- mine didn't though) A few others and I had gotten away with sleeping up top a few nights before this because we were feeling a bit seasick. I had been watching an Asian movie with subtitles as we were traveling- and that made me pretty queasy- my first ever sea sickness). Not fun. That night we crossed the equator, our guide jokingly said that we should get up at about 3am to watch the crew lift the equator so the ship could go under it, and that up until then we would be going pretty slow, but after that it would be fast since it would all be downhill from there.
Next we went to Genovesa (a half sunken volcanic crater) - visited Escaleras del Pricipe Felipe and Playa Darwin. There are so many things names after Darwin! I guess since we had traveled so far that night, I got used to the motion of the boat. Land didn't move properly after that until about yesterday! Land sickness is so strange feeling. Climbing the steps up the cliff that morning was a real struggle, as was walking around on the island. Once I got back on the boat though, I was ok. I wasn't the only one affected this way. Standing still on land I could see the others in my group swaying slightly as they tried to keep their balance. We saw frigate birds, Nazca boobies, (the tectonic place that moves the Galapagos Islands is called the Nazca Plate), and waved albatrosses. We also went to the Post Office Barrel (where people lave letters and post cards for the next groups to look though- if you or they find a letter addressed to a place near where they will be traveling, or live, they take it and hand deliver it to the people), and got to see flamingos who got there as they were blown off course by winds.
Next we moved (during the day this time- our captain and guide took pity on our lack of sleep from the night before) to Santiago and to Puerto Egas. We saw many more birds of all types, nesting, dancing, sleeping, and soaring around.
Bartolome was next. It looked as if part of Mars had come to Earth. It was covered in volcanic ash and cliffs made of hardened lava structures. One was called Pinnacle Rock, a tuff structure formed by the hardening of lava inside a volcanic peak and subsequent erosion of the surrounding soil, leaving the lava spike. One the way back to the yacht, we saw Galapagos penguins! Seeing penguins and cactus together in the same place is so incredibly contradictory! We got to snorkel near Pinnacle Rock with the penguins.
Leaving the next day was so sad. I wish I could have stayed there for a month or more. To work there as a tour guide would be the most amazing job. We took a walk before we left, everyone was quiet.
Some of the most amazing experiences there were snorkeling with the penguins, while blue footed boobies were diving for fish all around us, seeing huge Galapagos sharks, watching parrot fish chew on coral, getting stung on the face by a Portuguese man-o-war variant, seeing the bow wave glow from phosphorescents at night while dolphins played and jumped in the waves- their bodies glowing, being so close to animals without them having any fear, walking barefoot without worry, not seeing city lights for days, sleeping on the top deck under a sky filled with so many stars it was almost unreal - watching a few shoot across, and playing cards late at night with Rafa, Jame and some friends. As Rafa said at the good-bye cocktail, "You may leave the Galapagos, but the Galapagos will never leave you."
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Trip to the Galapagos
So tomorrow I will get to the airport at 8 am, get all my luggage inspected to make sure I'm not taking anything to the Galapagos that could cause problems- like fruit or seeds. Then its off to the islands! I will be staying on a mid-range yacht called the Daphne for the week. We will take hikes on some of the islands and snorkel from the boat. Hopefully we will get to see plenty of tortoises and all types of birds. I am not expecting very good weather, our teacher says to bring pants and jackets, and a researcher their said to bring wet suits if we have them.... But just being there will be awesome- no matter the weather.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Coast
I got back from the coast a few hours ago. It was nice to be out of Quito, and I didn't want to return today.
I made it to the airport on time, the flight was only 30 minutes long. From there we took a taxi to the bus station, and then about a 2 hour bus ride to Los Piqueros. I roomed with 3 other girls in my group in a room right on the beach. It was about a 20 second walk to the water. Our room had one large and 3 single beds in it. I was luck and got the large bed for the first 5 days. The windows had glass in them, unlike many at La Hesperia. The door liked to lock itself, so we came and went through the window! We ate out meals in an open air shelter type place. Mostly they fixed us fried seafood, though as one girl described it, it was the Discovery Channel on our plates- even the professor couldn't identify some of the meats. We had fried chicken a few times, though one girl found a large cockroach under her food, so I lost all appetite that night. For breakfast I usually had fruit and yogurt with granola. We ate lunch at local restaurants 3 times, so the preparation of the food in general was not very sanitary I'm sure, one of the restaurant's kitchen resembled a dirty mechanical shop. But I had the best lunch there so far, and have not gotten sick yet!
The first mini trip we took was to a "dry forest." The entire forest was scrubby and without leaves- it pretty much just looked dead. Most of the area there was covered in this type forest. We saw some lizards, a snake that was related to the rattle snake, tree snails, some termites, and a few birds.
We also went to Puerto Cayo, Montinita (a hippy town), and Los Friles. At each place we looked at rocky outcrops and compared what was living on them to each other. Our teacher (Kelly) warned us when we went to Montinita to watch out for people offering to sell us drugs, because if you get associated with them and the police think you are involved with drugs, you will go to jail and theres not much anyone can do to get you out. Here you are guilty until proven innocent, and proving your innocence can take a long time. None of us were offered any drugs, so we avoided jail.
The weather at the coast this time of year consists of mist mixed with some drizzle. It was overcast the entire time except for about 30 minutes at about 7:30 one morning. The average temperature was about 70 degrees, and a bit colder at night- not very tropical. Every thing there was damp, so all our clothes there got damp within a few hours and stayed that way. Nothing would dry unless you wore it and stayed out of the rain.
Most mornings me and 2 other girls in the group got up at about 6 and went to the local fish market to measure sharks for a project we are working on. We will compare our measurements to the average size of how big the shark is supposed to get and see if they are on average smaller, which may mean that they are being over fished. Regulations stay that fisherman cannot target sharks, but if they are caught and brought in in nets, its ok. But its really easy for them to lie about things like that, and hard to regulate unless a government official is on the boat. There was one in the market, but we think she was being payed off.
Our teacher said that our rooms were secure and that we could leave our things there safely, but I had 10 dollars stolen and another girl lost her ipod.
Even though I am 10 dollars less now, it doesn't really bother me. The poverty level here is eye opening. People here live on a fraction of what we pass up every day in the States. People here play soccer on fields of dirt clods, with a ratty soccer ball, have few clothes, live in houses that have no running water (unless you count the water in a large bin on the roof running down through a hose), make a living by selling sweets on street corners while some live by what they catch in fish that day. I am sure there are poorer places in this world. In comparing the poorer places in Ecuador with what I have seen in the US, Jamaica and Mexico, I would think that Jamaica is the poorest, with Ecuador close to it with Mexico next. Some people and places in the US are pretty badly off, but they are not on the level in the other countries I have seen. Though Jamaica seems the poorest, the people there have the best attitude towards life of anywhere I have been. They don't complain, they laugh, joke and appreciate just being alive. If I could go back or stay longer in any place, it would definitely be Mandeville, Jamaica.
I made it to the airport on time, the flight was only 30 minutes long. From there we took a taxi to the bus station, and then about a 2 hour bus ride to Los Piqueros. I roomed with 3 other girls in my group in a room right on the beach. It was about a 20 second walk to the water. Our room had one large and 3 single beds in it. I was luck and got the large bed for the first 5 days. The windows had glass in them, unlike many at La Hesperia. The door liked to lock itself, so we came and went through the window! We ate out meals in an open air shelter type place. Mostly they fixed us fried seafood, though as one girl described it, it was the Discovery Channel on our plates- even the professor couldn't identify some of the meats. We had fried chicken a few times, though one girl found a large cockroach under her food, so I lost all appetite that night. For breakfast I usually had fruit and yogurt with granola. We ate lunch at local restaurants 3 times, so the preparation of the food in general was not very sanitary I'm sure, one of the restaurant's kitchen resembled a dirty mechanical shop. But I had the best lunch there so far, and have not gotten sick yet!
The first mini trip we took was to a "dry forest." The entire forest was scrubby and without leaves- it pretty much just looked dead. Most of the area there was covered in this type forest. We saw some lizards, a snake that was related to the rattle snake, tree snails, some termites, and a few birds.
We also went to Puerto Cayo, Montinita (a hippy town), and Los Friles. At each place we looked at rocky outcrops and compared what was living on them to each other. Our teacher (Kelly) warned us when we went to Montinita to watch out for people offering to sell us drugs, because if you get associated with them and the police think you are involved with drugs, you will go to jail and theres not much anyone can do to get you out. Here you are guilty until proven innocent, and proving your innocence can take a long time. None of us were offered any drugs, so we avoided jail.
The weather at the coast this time of year consists of mist mixed with some drizzle. It was overcast the entire time except for about 30 minutes at about 7:30 one morning. The average temperature was about 70 degrees, and a bit colder at night- not very tropical. Every thing there was damp, so all our clothes there got damp within a few hours and stayed that way. Nothing would dry unless you wore it and stayed out of the rain.
Most mornings me and 2 other girls in the group got up at about 6 and went to the local fish market to measure sharks for a project we are working on. We will compare our measurements to the average size of how big the shark is supposed to get and see if they are on average smaller, which may mean that they are being over fished. Regulations stay that fisherman cannot target sharks, but if they are caught and brought in in nets, its ok. But its really easy for them to lie about things like that, and hard to regulate unless a government official is on the boat. There was one in the market, but we think she was being payed off.
Our teacher said that our rooms were secure and that we could leave our things there safely, but I had 10 dollars stolen and another girl lost her ipod.
Even though I am 10 dollars less now, it doesn't really bother me. The poverty level here is eye opening. People here live on a fraction of what we pass up every day in the States. People here play soccer on fields of dirt clods, with a ratty soccer ball, have few clothes, live in houses that have no running water (unless you count the water in a large bin on the roof running down through a hose), make a living by selling sweets on street corners while some live by what they catch in fish that day. I am sure there are poorer places in this world. In comparing the poorer places in Ecuador with what I have seen in the US, Jamaica and Mexico, I would think that Jamaica is the poorest, with Ecuador close to it with Mexico next. Some people and places in the US are pretty badly off, but they are not on the level in the other countries I have seen. Though Jamaica seems the poorest, the people there have the best attitude towards life of anywhere I have been. They don't complain, they laugh, joke and appreciate just being alive. If I could go back or stay longer in any place, it would definitely be Mandeville, Jamaica.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Big trip coming up!
Tomorrow I will be leaving for the coast at 7am! Which means that I have to be at the airport at 5:50 am... which means leaving the apartment at 5:20... hmmm. I`m so excited!!! I will be there until next Monday without any internet access so I will update this when I get back! I will be staying in a hostel right on the beach in a place called Los Piqueros.
The people of Ecuador are voting on passing or rejecting their new constitution on the 28th (everyone who is of age is required by law to vote, except those in the military), so I am kinda glad that I will not be in Quito for that time. Things usually do not get violent with governmental issues, but still I am happy that I will be in a small fishing town for the duration. Judging by the amount of graffiti in favor of the new constitution on the walls around the city, it looks like it will be approved.
The people of Ecuador are voting on passing or rejecting their new constitution on the 28th (everyone who is of age is required by law to vote, except those in the military), so I am kinda glad that I will not be in Quito for that time. Things usually do not get violent with governmental issues, but still I am happy that I will be in a small fishing town for the duration. Judging by the amount of graffiti in favor of the new constitution on the walls around the city, it looks like it will be approved.
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