Mi Casa y Familia

I am finally here, after another long long day of traveling, in Cochabamba. I had a day of rest with my family... Vicky and her husband, Dussam, and their adorable 6 month old daughter Valentina! The family and I went into the city last night... they needed some things for the baby. They have a car, which I think maybe be pretty lucky, but it was a fun ride into town. They don´t wear their seatbelts and I felt like Brian Regan when I tried to find my seatbelt in the back seat... "wait, give me a rope or something"... I giggled to myself. It was a beautiful night... the winter in Cochabamba is like the summer in Seattle... perfect! I also got to meet Dussam´s parents and brother. It was nice that they included me in everything.

Then today I met with the organizers at my office and I got a small tour of the city center... it was really overwhelming. They told me about my work too, which I don´t start until Monday, and it sounds like I will have my own patients and a group therapy session (with about 5 kids). Should be interesting. They were warning me that it will be hard though and it sounds like I will have mental and physical disabilities to work with.. yikes. I am off now for a meeting with all the volunteers and perhaps I will be traveling with some of them since tomorrow is a holiday and we all have a long weekend.

Hasta Luego!

Isabela Island

WHALES!!! We woke up and soom after there was a call to our cabins that there were whales off the side of the boat. We saw a mother and baby Bryde Whale swimming along and blowing water into the air. It was pretty cool, but they didn't show us much more than their backs.

After breakfast we went hunting for land iguanas... these are much brighter in color, bigger than the marine iguanas, and live farther in on the islands. We saw lot's of them right on our path.... some agressive males even had a fight and boy can these guys run fast!! It was crazy. As we rounded the final turn, a solitary tortoise was lumbering down our path.... it was so lucky for us to see him in this area. It was really incredible because although these animals are more shy, he walked right past us and went on his way.

As we loaded back onto our Zodiacs, it began to rain, but don't worry, it was soooo warm! We motored around a rock thrusting out of the water and we named it "review rock" because it had almost every specie we had seen thus far. We also saw some beautiful rainbows as we headed back to the ship.

Later that day we had another walk across some more amazing lava fields and had our first flamingo sightings! We also heard some funny birds that sounded like squeek toys!

La Linea Equatorial y Lobos del Mar

Around 2:00am we made our first crossing over the Equator Line (south to north).... a big deal for those navy types. Dad and Shannon were determined to witness this one (even though there was another later in the day) and had quite an adventure with the second mate on the bridge

*see for more details: www.onedegreesouth.blogspot.com

Anyways.... around 9:30am we made another crossing and everyone was actually awake so we had an official ceremony... we all became "shell backs"!! The funny part is that the captain actually made a mistake and crossed before telling anyone, so we had to head back and cross again (so people could take a picture of the navigation equipment saying 0 degrees). Luckily we already had a video of it from the 2:00am visit, so we got some chamgane and enjoyed the chaos from the edge of the bridge :)

Later that day we had another snorkling excursion.... this time in deep water. Although the fish were pretty similar to what we had already seen, this time we had a few wonderful surprises! Sea lions!!!!!!!!!! They loved to play with us when we dove down and they would come right up to your mask at full speed and at the last second they turn away. It was so cool.

The most wonderful experience was with a sea turtle. I saw him coming up from below and he kept slowly ascending. If he had continued any more, we would have hit each other. With no sound under water, it was surreal. I could have reached out and touched him. It was an amazing moment. Then I looked around and realized there was about four people on either side of me.... hahaha You think you are in the solitary state, but everyone is having the same experience. Still great though.

We concluded the day at Fernandina. This amazing young island still showed all the signs of new volcano eruptions. It was really incredible. The entire walk was over lava field of different shapes and styles. At the end of the walk was a colony of marine iguanas.... piles and piles of them! They were sneezing salt water at us and tiny Sally Lightfoot Crabs were cleaning off their shedding skin. The most amazing sites in these islands are the variety of animals you see together. On one rock there was iguanas, crabs, sea lions, flightless cormorants, and blue footed boobie.

We do so much everyday that I am having trouble writing about everything, but at least you are getting an idea :)

Missed Detail

So another awesome part of the CDRC day was the lava tunnel!!! This was like a cave under ground through which the lava flowed during the volcano eruptions. The lava on top solidified in the air and then it does not melt again even with the hot lava continuing to flow below. Luckily we had only five people from our group who wanted to go so it was really intimate and quiet walking through the dark caves. We had to bring our head lamps and they made the dew on the ceiling glow like diamonds embedded in the rock... it was awesome!!!

We walked about a quarter mile through this and came out at an open air restaurant for lunch. Afterwards dad and I played some ping pong and I wiggled my way into an empty tortoise shell... that gave everyone a laugh!

CDRC & the Broccoli Forrest

Today we saw civilization... and we were not very excited for it, but we spent the day on Santa Cruz Island at the Charles Darwin Research Center (CDRC). This is where they have the giant turtle . We got to hang out with some very friendly guys in their pen.... one seemed pretty interested in my hat, but unfortunatly, I was not allowed to touch him so I had to step back. We saw the area where they raise the babies so that they can later be introduced back to their parent´s native islands and have a better chance of survival (so many preditors for the baby turtles). They all had tiny numbers on their shells, so we called it the turtle races!!
After a walk through the town, we boarded our bus and headed up to the highlands of the island where we went turtle hunting!!!! They gave us some very fashionable wellington boots and we tromped through the mud, brush, and turtle poop to look for them. Our guide had told us we would be lucky if we saw one or two in the wild... but lucky us we saw 8!!!!!!! One was hanging out with a group of cows on a local farm... others were bathing in the tiny puddles. These were much more timid than those at the CDRC. If we got too close they pulled into their shells and wouldn´t come out until we had left. There was no one else around and it was such a peaceful under the trees that actually grow up there.
These trees were another reason why we ventured to the highlands... they look like giant broccolies :) Farther up, we got to see huge craters that were formed when huge gas pockets under the ground gave way and the land collapsed. It was breathtaking... very grand canyon like!
After the long day we are back in town and now headed back to the boat.

Side note: my only one pair of shoes are so awesome!!! They are Teva brand, but look more like a Keen. They rock in the water and hiking all over :)

Snorkling, Hiking, and Sharks!!!

Today we woke up bright and early at 6:00am for a hike up Bartolomé island (made famous in the movie Master and Commander). It was sooo hot, even that early, and we trekked up 375 stairs to get to the top, but what a fabulous 360 degree view! We were almost right in the middle of all the islands, so we could see a ton of them and the golden sandy beaches that we were going to explore later that day.
We headed back to the ship for breakfast and then grabbed wet suits and snokle gear and took the zodiacs back to the island. On the beach we saw the nesting sites for sea turtles! We jumped in the water and swam with beautiful fish of all sizes and colores (blue, irridecent, red, yellow, black, orange, etc...). It was incredible to just float in a huge school of fish as they changed directions, ate, and swam around you. The highlight was a huge shark that my dad and I found and it swam around only a few feet below us. We also saw sea stars, corals, and even penguins!!! One of the naturalist guides took an underwater video of the snokling too and we will get a copy at the end!
After the snorkle we had a traditional Ecuadorian lunch with a huge roasted boar head! Yum... they also had kassava bread, fruits, seafood soup, and so many other delicious dishes. Then back out to a new island for a walk along the lava shores. Here we saw the fur sea lion, a HUGE sea turtle, more iguanas (which have become so normal to us all now), finches, and lots of endemic vegitation. The incredible thing about the islands is that so much of what we are seeing can only be seen here! And each island is so unique... the landscape, the animals´ adaptations, and the temperatures. On our way back we got caught in a down pour... it was actually a welcome relief from the heat and humidity... yikes it is warm here!
Had dinner with the ship´s doctor and chief engineer. The staff is so much fun, but they want to practice their English as much as I want to practice my Spanish, so we end up doing a little of both. I also feel bad having a whole conversation in the group where only two people are able to understand :)
Reading in the hammock before bed. We were all pretty tired.

The Boat and Island One

Well, we made it to the Galápagos!! What a beautiful place. Dropped everything on the boat and got to meet our fellow travelers and crew. Then before heading out to the first Island (that same afternoon), we got to swim a little and dive off the top deck of the boat! What fun and the water was so salty that you barely had to swim.
Then we grabbed our stylish orange lifejackets and headed in small boats to North Seymore Island. Not a second after we had stepped off the Zodiac, I almost stepped on a baby sea lion that was basking on the steps.... there was another near by and oh my goodness were they adorable... I got a video of them playing and rolling and growling! Then two steps later we saw our first (of sooooo many) land iguana. They have spikes all down their body and are bright yellow as opposed to the marine iquanas which are black and sneeze salt out of their noses! The rest of the island was a plethora of Blue Footed Boobies (doing their famous, goofy mating dance), Frigets (the male birds have huge red balloon like sacks on their neck that they blow up to attrack their mates), tiny lava lizards, sea lions of every size, and a rocky dry landscape.
Back on the boat, we had dinner and then gathered on the upper deck to scout for sharks (the boat lights attract fish, which attract sea lions, which attract sharks)... unfortunatly though we saw the fish, the sea lions, a pelican, and even a huge sting ray, but no shark.
Oh yah and I beat my dad really badly at cribbage!

24 hours of Travel

We are finally in Ecuador after the longest travel day I have ever endured. We flew from Seattle to Dallas to Miami and then after a three hour flight delay, after which we ended up getting a new plane, we finally made it to Quito! The people are so nice here, but since today in Sunday we have not seen too many locals on the street. We are at 9,300 feet and nestled in the Andes mountains. It was beautiful to see the volcanos on the way back to the airport this morning. Our guide said the people never consider that they live on a volcano... if it is their time, so be it! Off to meet and greet with our fellow boat passengers and then we fly to the islands today!

CATD

I received information about my volunteer placement:

CATD (Centro de Acogida Temporal para personas con Discapacidad) is a state run orphanage that houses children and adults with physical disabilities. The director and administrator of the centre is a physiotherapist who I will be working closely with! It sounds as if neither the children nor the staff speak English. It will surely by an adventure in communication.

Preparation

In less than a week I will be leaving my family, friends, job, and comfy Seattle home and begin my journey South. I am packing my bag, hoping not to bring too much, but I realized that the temperature in Bolivia during the next few months ranges from 30-65 degrees.... yikes, I think sweaters are in order. So, alas I have been repacking my bags.

I will be receiving the last of my vaccination shots on Wednesday (Hep B) which will bring the total to four (yellow fever, Hep A, Hep B, and Typhoid). Along with my malaria pills and loads of bug spray, I hope that I will be sufficiently protected.

For the first 10 days my dad, his girlfriend and I will be on a boat exploring the amazing islands, made famous by Charles Darwin!

In May, I will fly down to Bolivia where I will be volunteering. I have received news that I will be living on the 6th floor of a building with a woman, her husband, and their maid!

Wish me luck!