daily life.

Some of these pics include:

Amazing view point close to the Hacienda where I... live. It was as close as we get to a clear day - even on half clear days the view is spectacular.

The first time I rode a horse solo... well that isn´t here, but it happened later in the day. In this picture i am suppose to making a child feel secure on a horse! Yikes!!

Moving earth for soil. Ummm.....so this s environmentally REALLY BAD. Digging up ground for your garden. Cuz the invassive aren´t gonna take over? OMG!!!! We are creating a compost adject to the chicken coop later in the week to help create soil. I could not believe this and just about died.

getting milk - not at the store. And no, I did not buy the cow dinner first or take her to breakfast after. Well, I didn´t have the 'handling skills' to get to breakfast. The cow responded to my lack of abilities by swatting me with her tail and taking a crap.

crab shell in the sand... I love shell photos. In fact I almost did not see the sea lion charging at me while a was positioning it in the sand. Barely getting away, the sea lion camped out next to my sandals (which I had not been wearing) for the next 10 minutes while I waited for it to... just go.... anywhere else. Finally she moved the two meters so i could dash in and snatch my goods.

obscene tourists looking like the animals they photograph. Maybe I am pixelated on someone´s memory stick somewhere being chased by a sea lion.

Tortuga gigantica... or big something like that. In 2001 there were only 1,150 tortoises left here. Friends ans I toured a breading facility and got to check them out. Yes, I have met nice people here.

The last is a nice little field pic of me not hurting myself. We were planting endemic Scalesia trees. This was not the day I machetied my own leg.

Marine Iguangas are like Oysters

There will be lots of them sitting on a rock - and all you will see is black volcanic mass rising violently along the shoreline. THen your eye focuses on one scalely black reptile, and it is not until after you have snapped the picture that you relize it was laying accross a rock, but rather another - much larger - iguana. Than a third spits with a hiss... and suddenly you see them all draped across and possessing the rocks. 10, 13,15...

Unlike oysters in the San Juan Islands, I did not harvest and eat any Marine Iguanas.

Culture Shock - or something like it...

So there is something I haven’t been telling you. I did not initially go to the dairy farm, rather I stayed at that lovely beach cabin / office / whatever – now I am at Hacienda Tranquila. The dairy farm. It is a drive from anything. Living in cell block A, I call it that because my room is the length of a bunk-bed squared. I have two shelves. The floor is concrete.

Interestingly, the accommodations are in many ways much nicer than many I have had previously. Indoor plumbing. Primarily warm shower, warm night, indoor plumbing, and constant electricity are all very pleasant things. However this place is pretty sparse and I have seen garages that are homier.

On an off-beat note, we have a feral cat (if it is ours, is it feral??) that I am starting to grow fond of. This is largely strange because I am in the Galapagos, and cats are highly invasive here. They really do a number on the endemic bird and lizard populations… I saw the cat with a little bird in its mouth earlier today. He/she/it was under the kitchen table. (The kitchen table and chairs are our only furniture other that a hammock…)

So I am growing to like an invasive animal that eats MY FOOD out of MY FOOD box, brings dead endemic birds into the house and then jumps onto the table and again tries to eat my food. The Hacienda must be starving me of some very basic needs...

That or the cat just can’t help being a cat.

Day 1

Finally made it! After an overnight in Quito and three plane rides I am finally laying in a hammock overlooking the shores of Isle de San Cristobal. I am in complete disbelief at the cactuses and lava rock that surround me. Even though I read about the barren vegetation, the lava rock landscaping came as a surprise – something I’d expect to see in AZ perhaps. If it were not for the beaches it would seem more prickly and brown here than the lush green of mainland Ecuador I am familiar with.

However there are the beaches.

And even the very, very public beach next to our office has a pack of seal lions (not sure what you call a grouping of seal lions…) sunning on the beach. They seem little disturbed by the hordes of people playing in the sand and water all around them. Several of the seal lions were playing in the water like children, rolling in the waves while little boys skim boarded barely 15 feet away. Neither seemed phased by the other.

Sea lions and people continued...

The only altercation seemed to be when young tourists started trying to take buddy shots with the sea lions. (I hate to say it, but it was the classic stereo type of pretty girls in sun dresses and bikini’s who believe they can get away with anything…and sometimes can…). Signs say you should stay about 2 meters from the wildlife – these girls were closer to two feet! One of the girls happened to be skittish, but a local was quick to yank her hand and pull her closer to the sea lions than any of her friends had been. She thanks him with a beautiful Vana White pose. A crowd had gathered and sea lions barked with agitation at the close range models. A few looked like they might momentarily charge. Some of the younger sea lions who had been wandering on the perimeter were now very close to what I assume would be a mother. Fewer were in the water.

Authorities were also present - standing silently amongst the crowd. Watching the hot chicks disturb the sea lions but not saying anything. Men.

World Wide Open

My backs are packed. I have come and gone from the relative calm of Hawaii. Now it is time to transport myself from the familiarity of Whidbey Island, depart from my current state of homelessness in Seattle, and nest like a boobie in the rare and treasured Galapagos Islands.


For the next three months I will be residing at Hacienda Tranquila – a 50 hectare dairy ranch in the highlands of San Cristobal Island. In addition to cows (which may or may not be a side note…) Hacienda Tranquila’s main purpose is community tourism and volunteer work. Their activities focus on the people of San Crisobal Island (there are 7,000 residents) rather than the endemic wildlife which gets so much play. After all, did any of you imagine I’d be staying on an anthropogenic dairy farm while in the Galapagos??


While it is true that I recently found out the specifics (dairy ranch and highlands rather than the beach for instance) this position puts me exactly where I want to be. Which is organizing and supervising the ‘actual’ volunteers (cuz I’m getting paid??) and then reporting what they do. I basically inadvertently applied to a position that has set me up as a volunteer coordinator. Which is kinda what I wanted my ‘big girl’ job to be.


Also in this particular setting, I’ll probably get to play along with the volunteers by planting trees, growing seeds and maybe pop my head in some schools if I am lucky! So far I have been very, very lucky…


-Shala


PS, They also grow coffee on the ranch. Maybe this trip there will be something decent to drink in the mornings with my fresh and yummy milk… Please someone else want milk so I can reap the benefits without waking up at 4am.


Wish list: Either decent coffee and no milk, or milk to cover up the low-grade caffeine I have become accustom to in Ecuador.