Jatun Sacha...Spiders, Rats and Cockroaches, Oh My!

Jatun Sacha is the last adventure on my agenda and I am really happy that I decided to end my trip volunteering and spending time in the Galapagos.  What an amazing, amazing place!  My first two weeks at the Jatun Sacha station have gone swimmingly well...I think that all of my travels so far did well to prepare me for the experience, however.  For example, no one from the organization showed up at the airport to pick me up, none of the phones at the airport worked, there were no taxis around and it was about 97 degrees, but I managed a laugh anyway.  In fact, it was exactly as I expected...Have I possibly been in South America a little too long you ask?!  

Luckily, a tour guide from one of the travel companies took pity on me and called the director of Jatun Sacha.  Within the hour I arrived, not at the work station, but at an air conditioned hotel at the port.  I was a bit confused, but luckily, the hotel was crawling with friendly volunteers.  They very kindly explained that every weekend all of the volunteers flock to the beach and the port and spend the week days up at the station.  I was anxious to get to the station to start my volunteering, but decided to enjoy the sun and the sand (and the sea lions) for the weekend.  On Sunday evening, we all piled into the back of a pickup truck (main mode of transportation here) and bumped our way into the jungle.  

The station was also exactly what I expected...It was not, however, what the two other volunteers I was to  bunk with, expected however...One poor girl was really afraid of spiders and one phobic of rats.  We were greeted in our room by giant spiders, giant rats and the biggest cockroaches I have ever seen!  After the initial shock, the English girls calmed themselves down a bit and decided that they in fact did want to stay to finish out their volunteering obligation. 

Our work varies most days between macheting down blackberry bushes (particularly nasty invasive species in the Galapagos), planting grass (to replace the blackberry bushes and prevent their return), and assisting in a nursery by planting coffee plants.  The coffee plants are provided to individual farmers.  These plants are not endemic to the Galapagos, but the Ministry of Agriculture has determined that they are not harmful to the endemic species and they provide a nice source of income for the residents here.  The work is hot, hard and buggy.  I love it and hate it all at the same time.  On the days when the mosquitos are particularly brutal or the sun is scorchingly hot, I really look forward to our daily dip in the waterfall that is located only about 1/4 of a mile from the station.

We definitely still manage to have our fun at the station.  We play cards and some nights the volunteers wander up the road to the "bar" for a bottle of warm beer or rum (the only two options).  Fancy dress parties with various themes are also popular.  Last week a few of us started our own aerobics and yoga class.  I generally try to hassle the staff a bit as well to practice my Spanish.

The volunteers change weekly, and sometimes daily.  Last week, twenty six colleged aged women from Pittsburgh arrived and took the station by storm for about 3 days.  After that chaos, we were down to about 8 volunteers and the silence was magical.  There have been a few volunteer "casualties."  One man arrived and left the very next morning because he couldn´t take the rain and all of the mud at the station.  He had signed on for 2 weeks but was practically running for the taxi after less than 12 hours at the station.  Another woman was planning on volunteering for a week and stayed two days.  On the other hand, a couple of volunteers have been at the station for 7 weeks and are planning on staying 10 or more weeks.

All in all, I am loving my time here and really wish that I could stay a little longer.  I love the routine of getting up early, eating a huge breakfast, working all morning, visiting the waterfall, eating more in the evening and laughing, joking and playing card games or generally getting in trouble before going to bed early and starting it all up again the next day.  

Well, I am in port and the beach is calling so, ciao for now!

Cheers, Kelly

Ah, Quito!

I spent my first weekend in Quito exploring the Saturday markets in Otavalo and Cotacochi with a wonderful tour guide named Angel and two German couples. We then drove another two and one-half hours to the Mitad Del Mundo, otherwise known as the Equator. I went to both the historic equator monument (the one most Ecuadorians recognize and visit) and the more touristy, GPS-proven equator, located about 1/4 mile away. I passed the egg-balancing test and walked the line with my eyes closed. I saw authentic shrunken heads from the Amazon to top it off! It was pouring rain, but I managed to get a few photos anyway.

When I arrived in Quito, I initially only planned to spend one week at the Spanish school, but I ended up signing up for an extra 2 weeks of classes after only two days at the school!  My experience at Academia Latino America was amazing and I definitely recommend the Spanish program there.  My Spanish improved immensely (although I wonder if I will be able to keep it up...).  I must have talked a little too much on my first day at the school though, because the school placed me in a class with only one other student that had taken years of Spanish and who was also fluent in French.  For the first week, it was just the two of us and I struggled a lot to keep up.  In the second week, a girl from Switzerland appeared and joined us.  She was practically fluent...I was drowning to keep up but was loving every minute of it.  Finally, my last week, I was alone with one professor.  My last week was definitely slower paced, but I thoroughly enjoyed my one-on-one chats with the professor. It was intense, but in the end, I "passed" with an Intermedio Medio "degree."  I don´t feel I can use all of the grammar that I learned, but I hope to be able to practice a bit more before I return to the U.S.

Apparently April is the rainiest month in Quito and this proved to be accurate during my visit for sure.  The storms raced in almost every afternoon and slammed into the two volcanos looming over the city.  This produced huge storms with really violent thunder and lightening.  I think I may have a little hearing loss as a result of these afternoon storms!  The weather in general in Quito was colder and wetter than I expected.  I kept telling people that it was like August or September in Alaska.  It was probably a little warmer (it is on the equator after all)...But the strangest thing for me was that despite the rainy cold, the plants were 100% tropical - orchids and palm trees, the works...

Despite the rain, I managed to see a lot of the sights of Quito.  I took the city tour and got an overview of the city highlights.  I visited the Iglesio de la Compania de Jesus, the Iglesio de San Francisco and the Teleferico, all in the rain...

I had two free weekends between classes.  One weekend I spent visiting Cotopaxi with some of the other students.  We had blazing sun, then rain, then snow, then hail, and ended up back in the sun again by the end of the tour.  Just like summer in Alaska or Colorado!  The next weekend I took a road trip with two girls from Switzerland (Jasmin and Eveline) and one girl from Germany (Tanja).  We took a harrowing taxi ride to Papallacta to soak in the hot springs in a beautiful valley. 

The girls (the youngest was 18 and the oldest 27) and I also managed to get out on the town a few nights as well.  We were all very paranoid about being out in Quito after dark (and from the stories I´ve heard recently from other travelers, validly so...).  To avoid traveling alone, we would call one taxi and have the driver drive all over the city picking everyone up and then do the same in reverse at the end of the night.  It took a lot of Facebook messaging and was generally a real pain, but we had some fun times once we were out and about.

I loved Quito despite the danger and managed not to get robbed while I was there...I know it sounds strange, but I would still recommend a visit. 

Next up, Galapagos!

Ciao,
Kelly