Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : The Galapagos Islands

Day 14, July 21st 2023 Galapagos Islands

Today we started out by heading to this guy's farm. His name was Giovanni. We learned about the endemic plants and also the threats that certain invasive species have been causing. We then pet their sweet kitty they're named Nugget. We headed off to go plant some endangered endemic plants that are related to daisies.  I planted 4 and I need to find out in a few months how to check their status online. We then had these super spicy and endemic peppers and ate chicken with some of them. After some more lessons on climate change, we headed back to snorkel. I saw a very weird Stone fish and many parrot fish. After that we worked on our journals on the beach then went to get dinner.  I was laughing so hard at the stories, but the fish didn't agree with me and I threw up. We then got ice cream after.

Day 15 July 22 2023  Galapagos Islands 

 Today we saw the giant tortoises of San Cristobal.  We even got to see the baby ones. They are very cute. We then went to the beautiful beach where we got to swim in the giant waves. After lunch we went snorkeling in a new lagoon where I found many cool shells and saw a sea lion balance a rock on its nose. After that we did data collection for our research project. Pat and I counted sea lion vocalizations in male and female sea lions. Also my bed and my hotel room got stolen. Had a good day.

Day 26, July 23rd, 2023 Galapagos

We got up early to go to a big rock on a boat in our wet suits. When we got there, it was pretty cold, but There were so many cool things. We even saw a black tipped shark and an eagle ray. We then took another ride to a small beach where I played with some Sea Lions. One more boat ride, but this time long and very Bumpy. Most people got sick, but I took a nice nap. We got to the dead coral beach where we went snorkeling and we saw many sea turtles and a baby octopus. When we got back we took a break and got some dinner in separate groups. I went with Pat to the very expensive and kind of bad place. We then had a lesson.

Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : Quito, Ecuador

Day 12 July 19 Quito

[Annie would later tell me that the word Quito actually means equator in spanish, so all of the activities she did in this area, have to do with being on the equator. I don't think she recorded them in her journal, but some of them had to do with walking the line of the equator and feeling the strange differences in the body, putting a sink on one side of the equator and watching the water swirl one way and then switching the sink to the other side of the equator and watching the water swirl the other way. There were other activities as well.】

 Day 13th July 20th 2023 Galapagos 

We woke up early for our flight to the Galapagos. I worked on my species presentation about leaf cutter ants on the plane. When we got there we immediately got to experience the galapagos by looking at some sea lions, blue footed boobies, and marine iguanas on the way to lunch. After lunch, we went snorkeling in a lagoon where I saw giant turtles and many cool fish. A baby sealion was even swimming and playing right next to us. We then headed to another beach where Pat got chased by a sealion and it was very funny. We gave our presentations and I think I did really bad. Very excited to sleep.

Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : Tiputini, The Amazon

Day 8 July 16, 2023 Tiputini Research Station: the Amazon.

 Most of the day was traveling today. We went from bus to boat to bus to boat with only the last boat ride being interesting. We saw a pink river dolphin and some howler monkeys. We then went to the research center where surprisingly it was very well put together for being in the middle of nowhere. We had tacos with homemade tortillas and guacamole for dinner. I then went searching for creatures at night with some people and I saw a HUGE frog, cordycepts in a moth, a whip scorpion, a possum, and more.  Very excited for day 9!

Day 9 July 17th, 2023 Tiputini 

 I was the leader of the day today. That means I kept a sheet of the day's events and wrote the blog post of the day.  I felt really sick this morning and had to sleep in for the hike, but later in the day we took a Canoe ride and saw kingfishers and a baby turtle. We then had dinner and played charades which was very fun.

 Day 10 July 17th, 2023 Tiputini

 We started off of the day with a boat ride where we saw a camn (???) and some parrots and parakeets by a salt lick. We then had a quick lesson about evolution, notes are in the back. We then put our suits on to swim in the Rio Tiputini!  We have to be careful of the eurethia fish, though.  After a close call with getting to the dock, Pat and I started a project on leaf cutter ants to present to the class. We then took a nighttime boat ride where we saw some more camins (???) and birds. 

 Day 11, July 18th 2023 Tiputini

We started off the day with piranha fishing. The guys who took the boat, Santiago and Relan, gave us fishing line on board and put a piece of chicken on it to throw in the water. They immediately bit it. But they are so fast that you have to have really good reaction time to get them. We did this for a long time, each time Santiago would laugh at me for being so bad, but eventually I got one, and so did other people. We got home and the kitchen prepared the 6 fish we caught for lunch. They were very bony, but good. After lunch we split off to help some researchers. My group followed a girl from Yale who was studying inga plants and their relationship with ants. We collected leaves to see how much they had eaten around the plant. We then finished the day off with a presentation about the animals here. 

Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : Alto Coca, Ecuador

Day 4 July 13th 2023 Alto Coca 

(My handwriting was so bad because I was soooo tired.)

 Literally all of the day was hiking which took 7 hours total to hike to Alto Coca.  The beginning was easy, but it quickly became muddy, steep, and uphill.  It was definitely the hardest hike I have ever done, but my friends in the “slow group” helped me. It was raining hard. The last hour was also pouring rain and I was soaked, but we eventually made it to the shed with no electricity that now seemed like a 5 star hotel. It was so nice laughing with my group members after a hard day with Mushroom soup.

Day 5-6  July 14, 2023 Coca 

 Today was the day we left alto coca. We started early because we wanted to beat the rain. During the hike I did slip a lot, But it was a lot easier going down than up. It only took us around 3 hours to reach the town that we left from originally. We then had it to a beautiful giant waterfall to wash off. On the way there I also learned that Canadians don't actually say hoser…  The waterfall was the best part of my day and I wish I took a picture.  We then took a very rocky 5 hour bus ride to the nice hotel where I got to talk to my parents. I will miss Mark, Caro, Jordan, Sylvia, and Carlos, but it is also nice to have electricity again and no bees in the cabins.

Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : Rio Quijos, Ecuador

Day 2 July 11th 2023 Rio Quijos

 We woke up at the small hotel in Quito and had an amazing breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, and fresh bread. We then headed off to Papallacta for the natural Hot Springs. It was a decent bus ride and I got to know the other 10 people. I may do a page on them later. The Hot Springs were very nice, and I enjoyed getting to know people. We then had lunch at a place nearby that was more of a touristy place and was pretty disappointing. We then drove 2 hours to our next lodge while I enjoyed the views of the Andes mountain rain forests and waterfalls. When we got there I took some pictures of birds as I waited for the guy who owned a small rainforest preserve high in the mountains to talk to us about the long hike that we would take to it. He talked pretty much the rest of the day about the conditions and some animals. I then had soup with popcorn, a common soup garnish here, and beef before looking around and “Herping” for frogs a bit and then going to bed.

Day 3 July 12th 2023 Rio Quijos

 I don't have a lot of time tonight to write because I have to pack for the big trip to Alto Coca in the morning.  We hiked a rugged trail today. It was amazing to see the different plants and fungi. I even saw a giant snail! We had to cross a river, so I was soaked the whole way. We got to see oil birds living in a small cave. The hike back was hard for me because it was very steep and muddy, but I made it. We got back and listened to some lectures from the 3 people who are the most familiar with alto coca. They talked about native animals and some ecuadorian history, may go more end up later. At the end of the day when we packed, I had to help someone who was crying and homesick.

Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : Quito, Ecuador

Day 1 July 10, 2023  Quito, Ecuador

Ater a long drive, along airport wait, and a long flight, I finally made it to the second country I have been to. One of the instructors, Megan, and the owner of a small hotel we are staying at picked me up with the other girl who is on my flight. We got there super late, so all I did at the small hotel was try on some boots. I didn't even meet anyone else. I am very excited to find out more about Ecuador and the rest of the 11 people!

Annie's Ecuador & Galapagos Trip 🇪🇨 2023 : Photo Highlights