On the Thursday morning, just two days after Nate had spent some hours being rescued off the Sierra Negra Volcano, eventually by helicopter, we took the fast boat back to Santa Cruz Island. Before we left, everyones bags are checked for more bugs and seeds and the like. The boat ride back across only takes two hours but its pretty bumpy. When we returned to Santa Cruz, we spent one more night in the Charles Darwin Foundation. We still had to do the inventory of all our equipment, as most of our gear would end up staying on the island. It didn't take long. The rest of the time we spent checking out Puerto Ayora again. Looking in from time to time on Lonesome George. Mostly we just rested and ate.
The following day we packed up all our stuff and left Santa Cruz for the journey back home. The bus back to the ferry. The short ride back across to Baltra Island and then a further bus to the airport. They once again checked all our bags, before we once again took off, for our ride back to mainland Ecuador. Two and a half hours later, I was back in my room in Quito. Nate and Marco stayed two nights in the capital. I showed them around town, before they eventually left for the United States. I don't know if I will ever see them two again.
I will always have such amazing memories of the Galapagos. I hope one day I will get to return there - although I doubt it will be paid for, or under the same circumstances. I will never look back upon that trip with despair, as I fear Marco and Nate certainly felt towards the end. I only have happy thoughts about that place. For sure, some of the work was tough, a lttle dangerous and agonisingly exhausting. Together, we had battled with rocky lava, mountains of ash, poisonous apples, slasher vegetation, a loopy horse and food poisoning. Being a volcanologist, is tough. If any of us had doubts about that before, none of us did by the end. Yet for me, it was an incredible experience. Not just for the volcanoes and the work that we were doing out there but for everything. The scenery, the wildlife, the people we met. On one of our first nights, we had had dinner with a scientist called Godfrey Merlon. He's an Englishman, with a strong, fairly posh accent and who had been living on the Galapagos for many years. He had written many a book on this part of the world. It was fascinating listening to this guy talk about the work he was doing. He had been partly responsible for making sure planes sprayed insect repellent before they landed on the islands. He was now working to change the lights on boats to a specific type, as apparently certain boat lights attract insects which get transferred from one island to another and ruin the ecosystem. Just put into google the words Galapagos and Godfrey and his name will pop up.
I remember the first time I saw the giant land tortoises, and Lonesome George, or when I snorkelled with playful seals. The time our boat crew stuggled to bring in the giant Tuna fish they were trying to reel. The food the chef cooked on that boat. The scenery and the wildlife. The time I listened to my Ipod (stairway to heaven by Led Zepplin) while sitting up on the deck of the sailing vessel watching the sun set and thinking life doesn't get too much better. I remember that horse ride. The Sierra Negra Volcano and all the sweating and bleeding for our work. The heat and the flies. The penguins and the turtles. The pain and despair, the joy and enchantment. The Galapagos - I remember thinking that it was all worth it in the end. I remember it all.
Charles Darwin came to these islands for just 5 weeks and left with the theory of evolution. Not bad, I'll give him that!!! I had been here for approximately two fifths of that time and so I thought I should come up with something at least two fifths as great as that, lets be honest - simple theory. And so my scientific, yet equally philosophical discovery is just this...................................
"If there really is a heaven in this world or beyond - I now know where the stairway begins".
Friday 18 February 2011
Saying Goodbye To The Galapagos
The Helicopter Rescue
Cynthia had to be back in the United States to start teaching again, so she left the three of us out there on Island Isabela with one station left to service and a weather station to instal. It was our final day of work but due to some stupid behaviour on all our parts and some unfortunate incidents, it turned out to be a disaster. The fact that for this final day there were only three of us, was the first unfortunate incident. We left early morning and took the two hour walk along the well guided trail. The trail leads to a viewpoint along the caldera rim, but round the other side of the crater to where we had normally been. Eventually you come to a point where the trail ends and a sign emerges, explaining the geological details of the sulphur emissions that can be seen from this location, situated within the middle of the caldera, but at the back end. From here, it was a short walk off trail, through some vegetation to reach the station. While the three of us sat there servicing the machine, time was pressing. Something on the station was playing up and it was taking longer than we had expected. Nate suggested that Marco and I leave him there to finish the servicing, while we go and instal the weather station. None of us knew where the weather station was located but we had been told that it was close to where we were now. This is where the problems started. Nate thought we were going to meet back at the sign, while we had interpreted the conversation as we would all meet on the trail near the weather station as it was on the way back to the rangers hut. Off Marco and I went, but because there were only three of us that day we would be breaking the number one rule of the Galapagos National Park - Never leave anyone alone.....................
Marco and I walked thirty minutes back the way we had come and eventually found the weather station. We installed it with great ease. However, when we had finished there was no sign of Nate and he should have been there. We had no cell reception at this point so we couldn't reach him, but we had left him with a cell phone, a GPS and the satellite phone - so he could call anyone if he was in trouble. After waiting for him, but with no sign of his whereabouts, we decided he had simply not spotted us off track and had walked on past. So Marco and I left, heading back to the rangers station. Once we had cell reception we called him but there was no answer. We got back to the station two hours later. We called again. Finally he answered. During the time we were walking back, Nate had finished the station, gone to the sign and waited for us. There he had fallen asleep for an hour, before waking up feeling very ill. He walked an hour before collapsing. He was sick - it was definately food poisoning. We summoned the park rangers to go and help him. Five of them ended up taking the trail one hour to his location, where Nate had become dehydrated and couldn't keep any water down. He was also drifting in and out of consciousness. Marco and I waited at the station for hours while they decided what to do. Even with five rangers, they couldn't get him off the volcano - so it was decided that the helicopter should be called in.
Marco and I headed back to Puerto Villamil via taxi. Nate was helicopter rescued. We saw the chopper go over head as we drove back. Apparently the helicopter looped the volcano twice before returning to town - just so the park rangers could get a good view of the volcano up there. The chopper is rarely on this island. Apparently it just happened to be there that day - so Nate was pretty lucky in that respect. We met Nate at the local hospital where he was put on a drip and after an hour or so made a full recovery. Marco and I had to buy the medicine and injection needles from the local pharmacy. The hospital doesn't have these!!! They made us buy two of each and of course only used one of each item on Nate - the others were for their own supplies. I guess their thinking is that if tourists come - then why not make them buy some extra equipment while they are there. The doctor later told us that this was the most serious incident on the island to happen for quite some time - two hours later the whole town had heard about it!!!
In the end everything turned out just fine. We even got all the stations finished. If Marco and I had been there with Nate, in hindsight - there probably wasn't anything we could have done too diferently anyway - not if five rangers couldn't get him off the mountain. It didn't really matter though - we still broke rule number one - and we were severly cautioned about it later by Robbie - head of safety at the Charles Darwin Foundation. The following day, we all rested in Puerto Villamil as all our jobs had been completed. For Nate, I think the incident was a message from god that it was time to leave. Two days later , he got his wish..............................
The Caldera Run
We all knew this was going to be the toughest day. It would be the longest, the most dangerous and the most physically exhausting. The station was located in the very centre of the active caldera of Sierra Negra. This is no trivial crater - its about 10 km in diameter and inside its centre is filled with variously aged and variously dangerous lava flows. At 6.30am, we had already left the rangers station at the national park and began our walk. The first hour and a half was the usual trail we had always taken. It was then a further 30 minutes along the rim of the caldera. When you first see this huge crater - you are kind of taken aback. It is absolutely massive. We found the part of the crater rim where it was safest to take the steep walk down into the caldera. It's at this point where things get tricky. Inside this caldera is basically a sea of lava. Some of the lava is from relatively old eruptions, some - from the most recent extrusion in 2005. There are two types of lava - the first is called pahoehoe. Taken from the Hawaiian name - ropy. This lava bulges out as it flows, forming tongues and toes of material. When it cools, it often has a smooth surface and is not too difficult to walk on. Pahoehoe was our friend. The other type of lava is called aa - taken from the Hawaiian name - hurt. Here, the lava brakes its surface as it moves, crumbling into razor sharp rocks and boulders that fill the floor - like a pile of loose rubble. Aa lava was not our friend. We tried to follow the flows of pahoehoe.
Inside the caldera, were huge mounds of lava - scaling up like mountains in a sea of black and gray. These mounds made it very difficult to see any sort of path, so we just followed our GPS towards the station. At one point, you come to an aa lava flow that is impossible to get around. I was told it takes most people an hour to get across it - and there is no other way. We each had a bicycle helmet on and strong gloves, because if you touch this lava with your hands, they will be sliced to pieces. Last time a volcanologist was in here he tripped in the aa lava and sliced open his head. He was then flown by emergency plane back to mainland Ecuador. Apart from the head injuries, the real risk was twisting or spraining an ankle. This was an easy thing to do with such rubbly material. And if you did do some damage preventing you from getting out - you were in trouble. We were now right in the heart of the caldera and there is no way that people would be able to carry you out from there. The only way out would be by helicopter, so we had our satellite phone on and ready at all times - unfortunately it was cloudy within the crater that day - so the chopper probably wouldn't of been able to land anyway!!!. It was unlikely, but if the volcano decided it was time to go off too - we would also all be in real trouble, as theres no way you could get out in time - we tried not to think about that.
From previous geology trips where I had walked over rubbly material - I had learnt that the faster you went (up to a point) the easier it was to get across. I applied this technique to the aa lava. Essentially you had to dance across it - and actually I didn't find it too bad. The others (Nate and Marco especially) took every step painstakingly slowly and really struggled. After a while I had learnt how to predict where to put my foot before I did and then by that point I was already calculating the next position. The other danger in this ocean of igneous material - are the lava tubes. Sometimes you will put your foot on a piece of what you think is solid lava, only for it to plunge a meter or more below ground. Sometimes, as lava flows, it cuts into the ground its travelling over. The top (exposed to air) cools and forms a crust. Later the lava in the middle drains away - leaving lava tubes or caves. Often the top crust layer is thin and you can easily put your foot (and whole body) right through it. This happened a few times. At other parts of the flow, you would have to leap over giant crevasses. Despite all this - I made it over in 40 minutes. My technique was the key to my speed - I named it - 'the caldera run'. The others soon followed.
When we reached the other side there were some unhappy faces. Marco questioned why four people had to do this whole days trek over wobbly lava, when the station only requires two people to service it. Nate also later claimed that walking for an hour over the aa lava was by far the most dangerous thing he had ever done in his life. I remember thinking to myself that if you want to be a volcanologist, you have to be prepared to walk through some rocky terrain. That's just how it is!!! I never said anything. It took another hour of walking over more lava to reach the station and we had finished servicing it by midday. It was then another 3 hours back to the crater rim - up the steep flank and then a further 2 hours back to the rangers station. On the way back we didn't use our GPS. There was a big tree with bright green leaves shimmering on the crater rim and we all kept that in sight and followed its line. We also spotted an easier way over the aa lava - we found some interspersed pahoehoe, which helped.
By the time we got back to the rangers station, it was 6pm and everyone was a mess. A few angry faces had flared up during our journey - I didn't get involved in any of the discussions. In all, it had been tough, dangerous and exhausting. I remember looking down at my boots and trousers and seeing them completely cut up, destroyed by the razor sharp aa lava. However, it was also a pretty interesting experience. The geology of the lava out there was a volcanologists dream. Amazing stuff. I wouldn't want to do it again any time soon - but I was glad it had been done, and successfully - with no injuries apart from the odd blister. For Nate and Marco however, it appeared to be the final straw. From that point on - there image of the Galapagos had been marred, and by the end neither of them wanted to come back to these islands..........ever!!! There are not too many people who come to the Galapagos who say that when they leave - although I guess not many of them went through what we did. Actually though, it wasn't the final straw, at least not for Nate anyway - that was still to come......................................
Volcanologists At Work
We had been in the Galapagos for about 6 days when we completed the servicing of our seven boat-reachable stations. We still had eight more seismic stations to go, and two weather stations to instal - so our work was far from over. However, these were only reachable by land as they were located further into the central regions of Isabela Island. We departed our sailing boat - the Pirata (which had been our home for the past 4 days) and docked at the town of Puerto Villamil, located on the south-eastern corner of the island and the main inhabitated spot in this part of the Galapagos.
Puerto Villamil is an interesting place. Like in Puerto Ayora, the beachfront is lined with expensive hotels and some nice restaurants. From first appearances - its little more than one street. You have to remember that most tourists who come to the Galapagos often take boat cruises around the islands, and rarely stop off for too long in the towns that appear scattered across these various land masses. If you do spend some more time here though, you soon relise that what the average tourist observes is not quite the whole story. Walk a little further inland and the wealthy look of the place rapidly declines. Local inhabitants of the islands live in conditions more similar to what you would expect from mainland Ecuador and in some cases - much worse. Many people here work in agriculture, fishing or as farmers up in the highland regions. Puerto Villamil though, certainly had a more rustic look than its neighbouring town on the island of Santa Cruz, and actually - I quite liked the place. The one beach-front street reminded more of an island in Thailand. It was very relaxed, slow paced and quiet. There were a couple of bars where locals and tourists alike would stop off for an evening drink - whilst sitting in a hammock or playing the very popular game of Ecuadorian volleyball. The rest of the town was made up of restaurants, hotels and a few convenience stores. We spent five nights in Puerto Villamil and stayed in two hotels during that time. We even got to make friends with some of the locals.
Most of the stations we had to service were located around the Sierra Negra Volcano. Sierra Negra (1124 m) is a large shield volcano, located at the south-eastern end of Isabela. The volcano coalesces with the volcanoes Cerro Azul to the west and Alcedo to the north. Sierra Negra forms one of the most active volcanic centres in the Galapagos, last erupting in 2005. It is created, like other volcanoes here, by mantle plume processes which forms the hotspot beneath this region. Previously, we had had to do very little physical work to reach our stations. The boat would drop us off usually ten minutes or so away from where we had to work. Now though - it would be a whole different story. For the next four days we would be getting up around 5.30am and often walking for 12 hours a day. The station servicing was the easy part - it was getting to the station that would physically ruin us all. The day would usually always start with a taxi to the Sierra Negra National Park. That took about 40 minutes to get to from Puerto Villamil. Then we would walk a trailed path up to the rim of the caldera which would usually take about an hour and a half. From this point we often took different routes to reach the various stations. They were always off path (again we had special permission to trek where the tourists couldn't) and usually we were led over old rocky lava flows, up and down ash layered mounds and through vegetation that would scratch your arms, legs and well, all parts of your body - to mere pieces. Some of the plants, which are home to some odd apple looking fruit are seriously poisonous and if you get any of the juice on your skin - it burns it a bright red and causes severe pain. On one of the days, Cynthia was unfortunate when a small drop landed on her cheek. Ouch. Apparently, the giant land tortoise is the only animal with the stomach to digest these deadly fruits. The point of all this - is that we walked over some seriously tough terrain to get our work complete. Often, the intense heat would certain not help matters as all the water in our bodies soaked away. On one our toughest days, I think I drank over 5 litres of water.
Once we were at the station, it was usually fine. The work went smoothly and there was very rarely a problem. Some of the locations were not to difficult to reach either. For example; one of the stations was situated on a local farm; another in the tortoise sanctuary - where we all got to spend more time looking at these incredible animals. One of the stations was also located deep in an arid forest - and myself and Cynthia, along with a guide and two local kids, spent an hour and a half on horses, to reach our destination. I don't often have much luck with horses - I always seen to get the disobedient one, so it was very little suprise that as soon as I got on the animal - it violently thrashed around to get me off. I never thought I would die in a horsing accident - but I was pretty much sure at that moment, that my time was up!!! It wasn't me the horse didn't like we later found out - but a piece of rope our guide had put in its mouth. I survived the ordeal. The trip in the forest took us through the same scratchy plants that cover this island - and as the horse was leading the way and didn't seem to even notice the vegetation - I naturally came out of that forest looking like I had been the victim in some sort of slasher movie. Reaching these stations though - were the easy adventures. On two days - it was a whole different story. I have named these days - 1. "The Caldera Run" and 2. "The helicopter rescue". They would test everyones limits - both physically and mentally - and their story has to be told...................
Thursday 17 February 2011
Volcano Work - In The Galapagos
Our boat was called the Pirata (pirate). It had a huge skull and cross-bones flag and an amazing crew. It was a small sailing boat but easily housed us four scientists and three crew members. The crew included our captain, one handy-man and the most amazing chef. We had all our meals cooked for us throughout the four days and nights we spent on that boat and I can honestly say it was by far the best food I had eaten in a very long time. There was so much of it as well - we were certainly looked after.
On our first day, the boat departed Santa Cruz Island and headed for Island Isabela. This is the largest island in the Galapagos, yet it remains barely habitable. There is one town (Puerto Villamil) but thats about it. We would be spending some time in that town, but first we had some work to do. All the seismic stations we were servicing were located on Isabela, with most of them monitoring the activity of the Sierra Negra Volcano. The first seven stations were reachable only by boat, situated on the southern and south-western coastline. It took hours to reach Isabela and equally hours to travel from one station to another. This resulted in us all spending most of our time on the boat.............waiting.
The ocean around the Galapagos can become quite rough, and although it took me a day to get used to the constant swaying, I never really felt ill. Actually we were pretty lucky, as the waves were calm and the tide behaving!!! During the long hours we spent on the boat I lay in my bunk watching the ocean out of my port window and listening to my ipod or often I would head out on deck to chat with the guys and observe the scenery, and equally the wildlife. You would often see a seal pop its head out the water in a playful manner or a turtle come up for air. We saw albatrosses, blue-footed boobies (they are birds with bright blue feet if you were wondering) and flightless comorants. On our time skipping between seismic stations we were also lucky enough to see the Galapagos hawk, pelicans and penguins (the only penquin to be found in the northern hemisphere) and even bright pink flamingos. We even got the time to snorkel with a hatful of seals and sea lions, a few stingrays and a green turtle or two. Most would come right up to you just to say hello - particularly the seals. It was an amazing experience.
Our day usually involved getting up at very early hours. We had to time when to dock the boat on the island and do our volcano work, and equally when to be heading on to the next location. It was entirely tide and weather dependent so our hours of work were often random. We would usually only get one or two stations done each day. The work involved departing the boat and successfully docking where-ever we could on the island (close to the station of course). Then it would usually be a 10-20 minute walk over old pahoehoe and aa lava, to reach the station. All the stations were well hidden and only located by our very useful GPS. The stations need to be well hidden for a number of reasons but obviously number one - is security. Although not very useful to most people, the equipment at a station, in total, is quite a few thousand dollars. One station on the Galapagos had already been stolen.
A station basically consists of; a seismometer - the main piece of gear which monitors seismic activity from the volcano; a GPS; a number of boxes for connecting the devises together and keeping it all running; and a solar panel - for power. Our job was simple - to take the data that had been recorded and put in a new "memory card" as it were, so monitoring could continue. In reality, we had to check that everything was working, clean the solar panel, download the data and go through numerous checks on different aspects of the station. It would usually take about forty minutes to an hour to complete each one. Cynthia always took the data box with her at the end so she could later upload the information to her computer. Conditions were usually pretty good - although it was always baking hot. Still, for those first few days we only ended up doing an hour or two hours work per 24 hours. Life was pretty easy.
I have mixed feelings about being on that boat. In general im not really a sea person. I prefer to travel on land or by air. Its not that I hate being on the ocean, its just that swaying around for four days straight really gets to me after a while. Most of the time I really enjoyed being on the boat though. Sailing around the Galapagos is something which many thousands of tourists each year pay many thousands of dollars to do. I was doing it for free. Because we were working on a scientific project we also had permission (by the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos National Park) to sail to parts of the island that tourists are not allowed to go. It was like our own personal private tour. During the day, the crew would throw out a line and wait for a fish. One one occasion, I watched as they struggled to bring in a giant Tuna. They landed it in the end and it ended up on our dinner plate a few hours later. Although I am not partial to eating anything from the sea - I quite enjoyed that Tuna - it was certainly fresh. Most boats do not have permission to fish in the waters around the Galapagos either. The best part about being on the boat though, was sailing during sunset. I can't tell you how amazing those sunsets were, photos do not do it justice. Each night, I always went up on deck, ipod in hand and watched the sun set for a good hour.
We completed our 7 boat-reachable stations on the forth day. The station locations were always different and that made things interesting. One was on a small island off Isabela. Another, you had to trek through bushes and shrubs to reach. Next to one of the stations (well a 10 minute walk away) was a small set of lakes within a sea of black lava. There was nothing for miles around and yet within these lakes, swam five or six pink flamingos - it was pretty amazing. The stations were all serviced correctly and generally there were no real problems. We had to look out for the odd insect (mainly spider) hiding in our equipment boxes, and the flys out there on Isabela are a real pain, but generally it all went pretty smoothly. One station was poorly placed and not collecting data properly so we pulled it out completely - the rest were working to perfection.
The four of us also got on pretty well. I had met Cynthia briefely at the IG some time ago but in reality - I didn't really know any of these guys before this trip. It didn't take long for everyone to bond and with all the boat stations complete and everything going well so far - everyone was enjoying the trip and having fun. It wouldn't take long though, before all that changed......................
Tuesday 15 February 2011
The Galapagos Islands
Only two or three days after I had returned back to Quito from doing my presentation in Santa Elena, my boss - Mario, called me over to ask me something. He wanted to know if I would like to do some field-work out in the Galapagos. I would be working with a team from America and I wouldn't have to spend a cent - the trip would be entirely paid for. Before he could finish telling me about it, I was already hugging him!!! Six weeks later, I was off.
So here was the deal: I would be going to the Galapagos Islands with three other people. The first was an American woman named Cynthia, a professor at Rochester University up in New York State. She had lived and worked at universities in England for about 14 years, but she was American and had returned there about 4 years ago. She had advanced knowledge of the work we were about to undertake and of the Galapagos, so she would be in charge of proceedings. The second was a young American guy named Nate. He was a student at the University where Cynthia taught. In fact, Nate had a fair few lectures with Cynthia. He had just finished his bachelor degree and was asked to come along for the ride. The third person was an Italian. Marco. He was undertaking a PhD in Miami and his study area was the Galapagos. I went along as a representative of the Instituto Geofisico.
Our job would be just this: There are 15 seismic monitoring stations around the island of Isabela. These stations primarily monitor the activity of the huge volcanic centre of "Sierra Negra". Our job was to service each of them. They had been collecting seismic data on the volcano for the last 6 months. Our job was to retrieve the data and make sure each station would continue to record information for the next 6 months. Seven of the stations are only really reachable by boat, as they sit on the edge of a remote part of the Island - within its southern and western sections. The other eight stations could be reached by land - which means 4x4 trucks, horses and primarially our feet. There were also two weather stations to instal. They would monitor a series of aspects of weatheriness around the volcano - wind speeds, air temperature, levels of rain - that sort of thing. We had 13 days to the lot and while we all believed we were fully ready for it - I don't think any of us were mentally prepared for what was to come!!!
On Sunday 9th January 2011, early morning, we all met up at the Instituto Geofisico - collected our gear, headed off to the airport and departed mainland Ecuador. Just two hours later we touched down on Baltra Island in the Galapagos. If you know nothing about the Galapagos Islands, let me briefely explain: Part of Ecuador, but located 1000 km off its mainland, the Galapagos forms a series of small islands out in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the islands are inhabited while others are difficult to get to and are therefore only home to a few odd species of the non-human variety. In some respects, the islands can be seen as a place of paradise but on the other hand their not. You can sail around the beautifully blue Pacific and see dolphins leaping out beside your boat. You can walk along the sandy beaches with iguanas and giant tortoises or snorkel with playful seals and turtles. But equally, venture through the islands and they are often sparse and bare of vegetation - almost desert like. The islands formed through a series of large volcanic eruptions and still today, those volcanoes are creating the same havoc they always had done, building up the islands as they go. Thats why we were there of course - for the volcanoes. These volcanic centres however, have created a series of islands often solidly black in appearance, producing a generally interesting but not aesthetically appealing look. The real magic of this place though - is the wildlife. The Galapagos Islands were first discovered in 1535 however, they were made famous 300 years later when a British naval vessel called the Beagle stopped off at the islands and out-stepped Charles Darwin. He only stayed for 5 weeks, but during that time he made countless notes, took specimens upon specimens, and even ate a few of the creatures. Later, the time he spent and the samples he collected there would be used as evidence in his theory of evolution.
The islands are special for another reason too though. There is an abundance of wildlife on the Galapagos, yet very few of the animals have natural predators. Since the Galapagos Islands were turned into a national park, the authorities and environmentalists from around the world have continued to work their socks off to keep it that way. The result is that the creatures are just not afraid of anyone or anything - including humans. These animals will come right up to you out of curiosity and if you accidentally do some thing unexpected, instead of running away like animals generally do in any other location on the planet - here they just stare at you like your some sort of weirdo!!! It truely is a special and unique location.
We landed on Baltra Island and took a small boat to one of the larger islands and a main hub for tourists - Santa Cruz. Here we would spend two nights. We stayed in the main town of Puerto Ayora, located on the coast. Its home to a sereis of fancy restaurants and nice hotels built specifically for tourists. It was a shock to see this place - as I can't think of many places in mainland Ecuador possessing this sort of wealth - or at least the look of this sort of wealth. The town is also home to The Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF - but originally called "The station"), where scientists of all disciplines come to work, within this amazing environment. Most are conservation based, performing intricate studies on some specific wildlife species. We were here for the volcanoes. The foundation set us up with accommodation and provided everything we needed to make us comfortable. During those first few days we had briefing and safety meetings about working out in the field - especially on dangerous lava terrain. I was almost prohibited from working, as the foundation were under the assumption that an Ecuadorian was going from the Instituto Geofisico - apparently they wanted a representative from their own country. I tried my best to pretend Ecuadorian but I dont think my Spanish held up. In the end they said it was okay for me to go.
Our only other job was to clean out everything we were taking with us including our clothes to make sure no unsuspecting seeds or bugs were transferred to another island, causing mayhem. This business is taken very seriously here. Before the plane lands to bring you onto the Galapagos they walk up and down the isles spraying insect repellent. Our cleaned equipment and underwear was checked very carefully by workers at the CDF and then they were put in quarantine for 24 hours.
During our wait, we checked out the small town, every now and again an iguana would walk across your path and you would once more be reminded of how incredibly odd this place is. We spent some time on the beach, relaxing before our work was to begin. We also spent some time in the CDF. There they have a giant land tortoise area - where you can go right up to these huge incredible creatures. It is also home to Lonesome George, probably the most famous tortoise in the world. He was found to be the only tortoise living on a specific island (Pinta) out in the Galapagos. They brought him back to Santa Cruz 40 years ago but have never got him to successfully mate with any other tortoise. He is thought of as one of the rarest creatures in the world. George now lives in a closed off area with two females. Tourists have to look at him from a distance these days as previously people would be caught riding poor famous George. I got to see the old tortoise - he even weed when I was there. Oh the delights.
During the few days we spent on Santa Cruz Island, we ate deliceous food, rested in the intense heat and observed the huge varieties of different species this island had to offer. Amongst others, we saw: finches, land and sea iguanas, pelicans, crabs, lava lizards, giant land tortoises, yellow warblers and more. Although you get used to seeing such strange animals walking next to you down the street, you rarely lose fascination in it.
Once our items had been cleared in quarantine, we were ready to depart. The first part of our trip was via boat. We had hired a private sailing vessel which is often used for scientific journeys. After two days in Puerto Ayora - we were fully ready for our volcano work - so we loaded up our belongings, our heavy instruments and ourselves - and sailed off into the sunset..........................
Sunday 13 February 2011
Goodbye 2010: The Founding Of Quito Festival, Christmas Day & New Years Eve - Ecuadorian Style!!!
I returned back from Santa Elena to the city of Quito a happy man. It was a time of festivities here in Ecuador. I mean, the rest of the world would also be celebrating soon too - with Christmas and the New Year coming up, but there just seems to be more celebrations during this time of the calandar year, here in this part of the world than most other places I can think of.
I returned back to Quito just in time for the founding of Quito festival. It commences around the beginning of December and generally involves a vast quantity of drinking, eating and dancing. Its a great festival,where people come out onto the street to celebrate the birth of their city. Each street usually does something different. In ours, there was a local football touranament played directly in the middle of the road, to the great annoyance of anyone wanting to actually drive down it. Later in the evening, there was live Ecuadorian music and small stalls also appeared to accompany it, selling beers of many a different variety. The party didn´t stop that night.........or the next!!!
At work, the parties continued too. We stopped all our volcano work and got the beer out. We then sat down to a huge game of Cuarenta (40), an Ecuadorian card game which does have some form of rules but which would take the average person a life time of playing to understand. Its a fun game nevertheless and was naturally played in good spirits. The Secret Garden Hostal also got involved in the festival, hiring a Chiva bus for the night, to allow the newly visiting backpackers a taste of Ecuadorian fun - so naturally a night of chaos commenced. I remember going on the Chiva bus for the first time last year for this very festival. I had only been in the country a week or so. I always thought what an amazing country this was if this is what goes on every week of the year. The drinking and parties lasted some days, my hangover a lot longer.
Chistmas popped up pretty quickly for me. It was a quiet affair but that was nothing to complain about. I spent Christmas day with a variety of friends and backpackers, drinking and eating. The Secret Garden made a great xmas dinner (one of favourite meals) and we enjoyed a night of games, chatting, and natuarally a beer or two. Some of us even swapped presents to make it really feel like Christmas. At work, our xmas celebration involved 60 or so people taking up an entire Brazilian restaurant, eating a ton of meat and as usual, ending with a dance or two of salsa. I also got to spend some time with Diana, although she stayed mostly with her family, which is what you should be doing during this time of year. This was my third Christmas away from home and it doesnt really get any easier. I looked around at the faces of other backpackers on Christmas day and they all had the same expression. It was one of trying to have fun and be happy, but always poorly concealing a feeling of wanting to be somewhere else. By the next day however, genuinely happy faces had returned............and so had mine.
I decided to stay in Quito for New Years this time around. Last year, I headed down to the coast for some beachy fun, but I thought it would be nice to end the year in Quito, the city I have called home for the last year. During the day, there was a huge street parade on Amazonas - one of the main roads in town. People were dressed up as witches and wizards and other Halloween based costumes - its odd, but I am told it is what they do here - however, no-one actually knows why!!! There were huge models and stands of displays lining the street, with music playing and the smell of barbecued food filling the air. It was a hot, bright sunny day too and it really made for a great atmosphere.
In the evening, my festivities started again, up on the terrace of the Secret Garden, drinking with many friends and a load of randoms. Later I met up with Diana and some other friends, where we first partied in the street before continuing the celebrations in a club, until the small hours of the night. The street party in Ecuador for New Years is an interesting affair. Someone will head out onto the street, start a raging fire in the road, and then be joined by the rest of the local community. People will stand around chatting, drinking, setting off fireworks, and often - jumping over the fire. Supposedly, the idea is that you are jumping from your past and into the New Year - your future. Another famous tradition in Ecuador is also to build a big doll, usually dressed up like an unpopular politician or some other figure generally not liked - and then hurl them onto the flames. As long as you are not too drunk when the fire is in full force - most people survive the night. I certainly enjoyed it!!!
The following day, when most people are asleep, stepping out onto the streets of Quito is like looking upon the world after a nuclear war. Burnt paper and plastic cover the streets and fill the air. It is so eerily quiet too, that you could easily believe you had woken up in some sort of zombie film. You look around each corner, expecting one to pop out at you. I have never seen any place quite like it.
The festivals of December 2010 certainly lived up to expectations. It was a great time to be in Quito and fun was undoubtedly had by all people involved. Even the granny from our hostal got to dance a few songs!!! Luckily it would be a year until it would all happen again, as it will probably take me until next December to get over it all. However, there was no time to rest for me. In 9 days I would be leaving mainland Ecuador and heading to a place I had always wanted to see. For 12 days I would be working as a volcanologist in one of the most unique places on the planet - and I couldn´t wait. I would be heading out with a team of American scientists to service a series of seismic monitoring stations - and it just happened to be on the islands of the Galapagos......................
One Year Living In Ecuador
While still in Santa Elena, on Ecuador´s southern coast, just one day after I had presented to 200 scientists on the temporal distribution of explosion events at the Tungurahua Volcano, the 25th of November 2010 popped up. It marked my one year - of living in this country. Actually it was quite difficult to comprehend that I had been living in South America for a year now. Yes, so many things had happened in that time, but for some reason which I cant easily explain, this year seemed to go so much faster than others that I had spent travelling the world.
I have certainly learnt a lot during my time here, and not just about volcanoes. South America is like no other place that I have ever been to. The culture, food, attitudes and general way of life is so very different to what I know. Still, these things have not distracted me from having an amazing year - if anything, they have only enhanced those experiences.
Of course, there are still some aspects of life here that drives me to a state of insanity. I still haven´t learnt to deal with the pace and absurdity of Ecuadorian walking. A trivial matter to most, but just come to this part of the world and spend a few days walking the streets of Quito for example and you will instantly shake my hand and nod your head with understanding. Its not that they walk slowly, nor that they insist on taking up the entire pavement by holding hands in some long snake-like line, but its the fact that they have absolutely no idea of anything that is going on around them. Its odd, because put these people in a car and they drive like Damon Hill circuiting Silverstone. They all drive at top speed, with ultimate concentration and very rarely collide. Then take those same people and place them onto the pavement and suddenly their heads are transported up onto cloud cuckoo land and they have absolutely no comprehension of anything going on in the world they are walking through.
Other slight oddities and annoyances that I have noticed within the country include; the lack of change at any store, bank or in fact any place distributing money; the smog and pollution which fills the city of Quito to the point where 90% of people must have brochitis......surely; and finally the beaurocratic nightmare that occurs whenever any sort of paperwork is required. Since living in this country I have signed at least 34,000 documents, many of them in my own blood. Obtaining a work visa proved such a mission of despairing proportions that at points during the process I almost debated trading the administration office with one of my own kidneys for the damn document. They probably would have accepted.
Yet despite all this, the year I have had here has been remarkable, an experience which won´t (and couldn´t if I wanted) be forgotten in any hurrying moment. At this point in time I don´t know how long I am going to be staying in this part of the world. My job at the Instituto Geofisico (EPN), working as a volcanologist, has taught me so much and for now I am happy to still be enthralled by it all. Plans to leave however are in the pipeline, so I must and undoubtedly will enjoy however much time I still have left here. I have made some amazing friends over the year. Some have gone on to other parts of the world, many have come back for a second spell, and some never left in the first place. Here are some of the incredible things I have done, or been through with these people. Many of them were a lot of fun, some where a little scary, but all - were unforgettable..............
1. Helicopter trip around Reventador Volcano - as a volcanologist, I was lucky enough to fly in a helicopter, half hanging out the hoovering machine while taking gas measurements around the extremely active Reventador Volcano. Two hours after our flight, the volcano exploded - we would have been caught right in the middle of it. The pilot of the helicopter would later say "I am never doing that flight ever again. I didn´t realise at the time but I now understand - that was the most dangerous trip I have ever flown!!! "
2. Walking On The Equator - unsuprisingly "Ecuador" lies on the equator - so a huge group of us took the hour and a half trip north of Quito and went walking on the middle of the world.
3. Kidknapped and Maced - Its not every day you get kidknapped but it certainly happens a lot more out here than it does in my home-town of Southgate, North London. Whilst taking a taxi with my friend Leanne, two men suddenly jumped in, maced me in the eye, threatened us with screwdrivers, took all of our belongings and kicked us out onto a quiet street of Quito, without a penny to our names.
4. Jungle madness - playing in the Amazon Jungle is certainly a recommended adventure. On the many occasions that I have spent in the jungle terrain, I managed to find time for white-water rafting, caving and of course - jumping off of bridges with just a bit of rope attached to my feet. Actually, I did that last one a few times!!!
5. Eaten the weird and wonderful - they certainly have some bizarre food out here - some are deliceous, like Yuca - a root that grows only in the Amazon Jungle and tastes a bit like potatoes, while others are not so tasty - like Guinea Pig - which ended up more like an autopsy than a meal and tasted so bad, I would have probably enjoyed eating a dead person during an autopsy than sitting down to another plate of this rodent again.
6. Bailing friends out of jail - with a country as beaurocratic as Ecuador - staying over your visa is not a good idea. Yet Ravi, an Indian hippy decided it would be okay for him to stay an extra few days. He ended up spending three days in prison and guess who was designated to help get him out........ahhhhh!!!
7. The USA - I did manage to get out of South America for 10 days - where I spent time in Vegas with my boys from London, for one of the world´s messiest stag do´s. I also went to the Grand Canyon and spent a week in LA and Santa Barbara. I ate more food in those few days than I had in the entire year I have been in Ecuador.
8. A birthday on a Chiva Bus - when a birthday celebration needs to be done in style, what better way than to party on an open-top bus, complete with disco lights, DJ and unlimited alcohol, while the bus cruises around the city of Quito. Add 35 friends to that and my 27th birthday was celebrated in a way it never will again!!!
9. Monitoring erupting volcanoes - some volcanologists work in a place and never see their volcano erupt. I have been in Ecuador for one year and seen the Tungurahua Volcano go off about three times. Monitoring the activity during those periods was an invaluable experience, a lot of fun and a little scary at times.
It was just over a month from now, when my list would be extended once again. Point 10 would happen on the 9th of January 2011, but before then, I had a Christmas and New Year to celebrate. Ah, its a tough life..........................
