First Days in Galapagos
Today we woke up at 7 am to have breakfast which was great. Simple bananas, peanut butter, bread with cheese and coffee. Even black, Galapagos coffee is more than amazing.
After breakfast we got changed in to our swim suits and headed to see tortoises and snorkel after. The tortoises ranged from more than a meter and a half to a couple inches in length. It was amazing to notices how their shells evolved to allow them to eat and reach their necks up. Natural selection is an extraordinary thing to learn about.
The fact that people here are so dedicated to the wildlife is such a beautiful thing. They spend anywhere between 1000 and 5000 dollars on each tortoise and at the place we went to there were 1200 of them.
Once our minds were blown from that experience we made our way to the snorkeling spot. We saw sea stars, octopus, Rays, marine iguanas, crabs as well as the gorgeous fish.
Wrapping that up, we went to eat lunch then walked back to the hotel for some down time. As if the day hadn’t already been awesomely packed, we took a drive to the highlands for some tortoise encounters at a local farm and finally to try more of the fantastic Galapagos coffee.
On the way, our wonderful guide, Luis, talked about the wildlife around us. Once we got to the farm, we were on our way though the luscious green. We saw many giant tortoises, which Luis explained more about. We even went through a lava tube. It was super dark, but really cool to know that the 28 lava tubes around the island support the whole ground.
Lastly, we traveled to a coffee farm where we were able to see the process for make sugar, molasses, and coffee. It was amazing to see them using such simple machines.
Can’t wait for more adventures to come on the islands!
-Galapagos students
