Summary: The second week of a Lead Adventures 3-Week Galapagos program, volunteering at Jatun Sacha on San Cristobal Island, can be best summarized with 3 M-words: Mud, Mosquitoes, and Manual Labor. Due to the high humidity, the entire station is muddy, and mud will find a way onto all your belongings. Also due to the high humidity, mosquitoes will surround you, and repellant needs to be applied at all times. The work is manual labor, sometimes very intense, mainly dedicated to environmental conversation. The accommodation is bunk beds in a cabin, with no hot showers or internet.
ENTIRE TRIP OVERVIEW
Destination(s): Mainly the Galapagos Islands, 2.5 days in Quito, Ecuador
Total Length of Stay: 3 weeks
Getting There: International flight to Quito, domestic flights from Quito to the Galapagos Islands
THIS PORTION
This Blog Post: Week 2 in the Lead Adventures 3-Week Galapagos program, on San Cristobal Island, volunteering at Jatun Sacha Biological Station
Accommodation: While in town, La Casa de Nelly. Cabin-style accommodation at Jatun Sacha.
Laundry: None at Jatun Sacha, laundry place near La Casa de Nelly charged $1/kilogram
Food: All meals included while volunteering, none included while in town
ARRIVING IN SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND (Sunday)
Destination(s): Mainly the Galapagos Islands, 2.5 days in Quito, Ecuador
Total Length of Stay: 3 weeks
Getting There: International flight to Quito, domestic flights from Quito to the Galapagos Islands
THIS PORTION
This Blog Post: Week 2 in the Lead Adventures 3-Week Galapagos program, on San Cristobal Island, volunteering at Jatun Sacha Biological Station
Accommodation: While in town, La Casa de Nelly. Cabin-style accommodation at Jatun Sacha.
Laundry: None at Jatun Sacha, laundry place near La Casa de Nelly charged $1/kilogram
Food: All meals included while volunteering, none included while in town
ARRIVING IN SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND (Sunday)
Our speedboat from Santa Cruz to San Cristobal wasn’t until 2pm, and we didn’t do much in the morning, because the first week had kept us pretty busy! On the speedboat, I made the mistake of putting my backpack underneath my seat. The outside was soaked, but my computer inside was spared. When we arrived in San Cristobal, I left my jacket on the boat and an amazing crew member returned it. We got a cab to La Casa de Nelly, and unlike Santa Cruz where taxis were plentiful, it actually took a while to find one. When we arrived, Nelly warmly greeted us and was familiar with the Lead Adventures program. We ate dinner then wandered around Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, which has a very high concentration of sea lions. They hang out on the beach, the bench, the sidewalk, the boardwalk, the street…
Coming in to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Those are sea lions on the stairs.
VOLUNTEERING AT JATUN SACHA BIOLOGICAL STATION (Monday - Thursday)
Around 7am on Monday, a taxi picked us up from La Casa de Nelly, and drove through muddy, rainy, and bumpy roads to Jatun Sacha Biological Station. When we arrived, there was a group of volunteers sitting around a table, finishing breakfast and discussing volunteer work. The other volunteers had all arrived through a variety of travel agencies; my friend and I were the only ones from Lead Adventures. We were served pancakes for breakfast, and they were SO DELICIOUS. They had been prepared in a rustic kitchen in the middle of nowhere, and were JUST SO DELICIOUS.
These pancakes were SO DELICIOUS.
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Eating breakfast and discussing volunteer work
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After those delicious pancakes, my friend and I had orientation, which was nothing formal. One of the longer-term volunteers who spoke English showed us around the place and told us the rules, one of which was that muddy rain boots cannot be worn in the dining area. This is an effort to keep the area clean, although it’s pretty muddy anyways. Everything is muddy here.
We were then shown our accommodation, and Lead Adventures wasn't lying when they said housing was "rustic." I had my own room, a bunk bed in a wooden cabin, with some wooden shelves. The beds had mosquito nets on them, so it was totally unnecessary to bring one, despite it being on the Lead Adventures packing list. Also, the beds don’t have blankets on them, but you can ask for a sleeping bag. The first night, I did not know this and slept in layers of clothing to stay warm. The second night, I got a sleeping bag. The third night, I asked for another sleeping bag because I was cold and wanted two.
We were then shown our accommodation, and Lead Adventures wasn't lying when they said housing was "rustic." I had my own room, a bunk bed in a wooden cabin, with some wooden shelves. The beds had mosquito nets on them, so it was totally unnecessary to bring one, despite it being on the Lead Adventures packing list. Also, the beds don’t have blankets on them, but you can ask for a sleeping bag. The first night, I did not know this and slept in layers of clothing to stay warm. The second night, I got a sleeping bag. The third night, I asked for another sleeping bag because I was cold and wanted two.
Casa Vieja, my home for four nights
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The door to my room, at the end of this hallway
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My bed
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Window and shelves, and some of my muddy clothes
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The communal bathroom is located next to the cabin, with sinks, showers, and toilets. I saw spiders a few times while brushing my teeth, which scared some people, but I used to get Huntsman spiders in my apartment in Australia. Going to the bathroom at night was always an adventure: First, you turn on the bathroom light with a switch located in the cabin. This dim light, plus the dim light from the cabin, then sufficiently illuminates the muddy, slippery, and often rainy path to the toilets.
Speaking of dim lighting, I wonder why the hell no one at Lead Adventures told me to bring a flashlight! The bathroom had a light, but walking from the dining area back to the cabin after dark was nearly impossible. Sometimes I walked with people who had flashlights, other times I made do with either my tiny, keychain flashlight or iPhone screen...none of which really provided sufficient light.
Speaking of dim lighting, I wonder why the hell no one at Lead Adventures told me to bring a flashlight! The bathroom had a light, but walking from the dining area back to the cabin after dark was nearly impossible. Sometimes I walked with people who had flashlights, other times I made do with either my tiny, keychain flashlight or iPhone screen...none of which really provided sufficient light.
Sinks and showers, toilets on the other side. The showers do not have hot water.
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At night, nothing illuminates this path from the dining area back to the cabin. Should have brought a flashlight!
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There is no internet here, but there is electricity. Many volunteers like to sit in hammocks and read, and there was a small book collection in the accommodation. One afternoon, I sat in a hammock and wrote stuff in my notebook (which later made it into this blog entry), which felt so foreign to someone who loves her Apple products, possibly too much.
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I thought the food here was pretty good, but it's definitely not the place for picky eaters. There is exactly one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian option for every meal, and plenty of rice and fruit juice. My diet changed drastically when I was here: I'm a skinny girl who doesn't eat much, usually unable to finish restaurant meals. However, after one morning of intense, manual labor, I not only finished my meal but went back for seconds, because I was so hungry. Upon returning home, I discovered that I had lost weight, despite all the food I'd eaten.
Volunteers eating lunch together
Volunteer Work
The day begins with breakfast at 7am, so I'd set my alarm for 6:15am, but the roosters usually woke me up before that. Morning work was usually from 8:30am-12:30pm, including a mid-morning snack, followed by lunch at 1pm. Afternoon work was from 3-4:30pm, followed by a break then dinner at 6pm. These hours are very approximate, sometimes because of the weather or project, but mostly because it's South America. There are several projects going on at once, and I imagine no two volunteers ever do the same exact things. This is what I ended up doing:
Monday Morning: We dug a line of holes on a hill to plant some endemic grass...in the rain.
The day begins with breakfast at 7am, so I'd set my alarm for 6:15am, but the roosters usually woke me up before that. Morning work was usually from 8:30am-12:30pm, including a mid-morning snack, followed by lunch at 1pm. Afternoon work was from 3-4:30pm, followed by a break then dinner at 6pm. These hours are very approximate, sometimes because of the weather or project, but mostly because it's South America. There are several projects going on at once, and I imagine no two volunteers ever do the same exact things. This is what I ended up doing:
Monday Morning: We dug a line of holes on a hill to plant some endemic grass...in the rain.
Monday Afternoon: We cleaned this room in a cabin, although I'm not sure we made it any cleaner. We put water and soap in a bucket (which was muddy), splashed the soapy water on the concrete floor (which was muddy), and then used brooms (which were muddy) to sweep out the soapy water and rinse the floor. Our rain boots were also muddy, so we decided that two people would clean (sort of) their boots and work inside the room, while two other people would fetch water and never enter the room with dirty boots. Below is a picture of me cleaning my muddy boots...I'm pretty sure they were still muddy afterwards.
"Cleaning" my muddy boots
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Muddy and soapy water. And furniture too.
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Tuesday Morning: We headed to the Galapaguera, a place where Galapagos tortoises are bred, about a 45 minute drive from Jatun Sacha. The drive meanders through muddy roads and gorgeous views, which makes riding in the back of the truck really fun, although really wet too since there is heavy mist.
Muddy boots, muddy jeans, muddy road, water-proof jacket, messy hair, back of a pick-up truck. Sums up Jatun Sacha.
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Drove through these mud puddles.
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I may have stood up in the back of a moving pick-up truck to get this shot...
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...and this one.
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Driving through heavy mist...
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...which clears when you get near the coast, where the Galapaguera is.
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When we arrived, the task was to expand the enclosure of one tortoise, because it was getting too big for its current living space. First, we cleared the area around the existing enclosure, using machetes to cut down bushes and invasive blackberry plants. This was pretty intense labor; I personally felt proud every time I saw large branches topple over, after repeatedly swinging at them with all 120 lbs of my body. After we cleared the area, we tore down and rebuilt the rock fence.
Cutting down bush
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Machete!
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Manzanilla, the poison apple plant we were not supposed to cut down, or go near
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Building a rock fence for the tortoise
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After we finished working, we toured the Galapaguera and learned about tortoise breeding...
Our guide looking for tortoise eggs in the nesting area. Tortoises urinate where they bury an egg, which helps people identify the egg's location.
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Our guide didn't find a egg this day, but the eggs that are found end up in this incubator. I can't remember the statistic for eggs that succeed.
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When we came back here on Thursday, we held an egg. An unfertilized one, we can't be trusted with live tortoise embryos!
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Babies! Cutest thing ever!
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Then they grow bigger, even outgrow their enclosures. That's the rock fence we just tore down and rebuilt to give it more space.
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And then they get really big!
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Tuesday Afternoon: We took turns digging a septic hole, that needed to be 3 cubic meters, and that toilets would flush into. There was another septic hole that was now unsuitable, and we all wondered why, but...didn't really try to find out. Digging the hole required loosening dirt with a garden pick, shoveling it out of the hole, and then moving it away with a hoe. Pretty difficult work, I think we dug about 15 cm in 1.5 hours.
Septic hole
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Me in a shit hole. Literally.
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Throwing dirt out of the hole
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Shovel's pretty heavy
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Wednesday Morning: We hiked up a hill, located just behind Jatun Sacha, to an area where petrel birds nest. We looked for nests in order to note their location, and also cleared invasive blackberry plants around them. The hike up the hill took nearly 2 hours, and required walking through slippery mud and heavy fog, while carrying machetes for clearing blackberry plants. I've complained about hiking in fog before, but San Francisco's famous fog has NOTHING on this area. I started using my machete as a walking stick in slippery mud...and was quickly told that it was a safety hazard. At one point, we crawled under barbed wire fence. As for the actual work of finding petrel nests, we were pretty disorganized and not very effective, since no one knew what to look for. Petrel nests are elusive and resemble rat holes, plus our group got really spread out no one could find our leader. This seemed to upset some people, but really, it's South America.
By the end of the morning, my feet hurt from the hard rubber of the rain boots, but I really enjoyed the hike because it was gorgeous. On the way back to Jatun Sacha, we hiked a shorter route that took about 30 minutes, and did not involve crawling under barbed wire. Someone asked why we didn't take that route on the way there. Good question. Maybe they didn't want us to miss out on nice views.
By the end of the morning, my feet hurt from the hard rubber of the rain boots, but I really enjoyed the hike because it was gorgeous. On the way back to Jatun Sacha, we hiked a shorter route that took about 30 minutes, and did not involve crawling under barbed wire. Someone asked why we didn't take that route on the way there. Good question. Maybe they didn't want us to miss out on nice views.
It's really, really foggy. Like San Francisco, but with mud.
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Hiking through slippery mud and fog with machetes. It's not as dangerous as it sounds.
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Gorgeous view, ocean's even visible through the fog.
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Under the barbed wire fence!
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Pretty trees
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Mid-morning snack
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My muddy boots and machete.
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Example of the elusive petrel nest. Deceptively similar to rat holes.
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I tried to find petrel nests in the rocks...
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...but wasn't really effective at it.
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So I just gave up and started photographing the gorgeous hills...
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...and the coast.
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Wednesday Afternoon: We picked fruit, mostly oranges from trees, but also passionfruit and avocados. I didn't think picking fruit could be that hard, but found out that it's not easy getting oranges out of trees. A stick can be used to knock oranges out of trees, or someone can climb the tree...I just helped gather oranges into bags. The presence of blackberry plants certainly didn't help, I got stuck several times. When putting the fruits away, I discovered that I really, really liked the smell of the bag that contained fresh avocados. The smell of the dirty bag that contained them was just...amazing.
Orange tree
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Trying to get the oranges down with a stick
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The fruits of our labor, literally. Orange and passionfruit.
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Fresh avocados.
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Thursday Morning: We were supposed to go to a farm to help make compost, but that never happened. The plan changed to working in the greenhouse next to the Galapaguera, and it was well after 9am when we finally got in a taxi to go there. Just like on Tuesday, riding in the back of a pick-up truck was cold, wet, and exhilarating! At the greenhouse, we put manure into bags where saplings would be planted. Afterwards, we went to the Galapaguera to see tortoises, similar to Tuesday morning's tour.
Just sitting around waiting, day started over an hour late
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Sitting around a pile of cow poop. We put it into bags.
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Thursday Afternoon: I had kitchen duty for dinner, so I didn't work in the afternoon, although apparently everyone played Ecuadorian volleyball instead of working. About once a week, everyone helps with preparing a meal, and also drying and putting away all the dishes. I'm terrible at cooking, so luckily all I had to do was cut carrots and tomatoes...and I still kept doing it wrong. I cut pieces that were too big, and the chef told me: más pequeño!
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Thursday Night Bonfire: Usually Jatun Sacha is far too humid to start a fire, but because it hadn't rained in nearly 24 hours, a rarity for this place, we made a bonfire this night. We still struggled to start the fire, because it's just humid, and the sticks we tried to burn were all wet. When the fire finally started we baked bread over it, by wrapping dough around sticks.
Bread on a stick
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Instagrammed version of bonfire
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RETURNING TO TOWN IN SAN CRISTOBAL (Friday)
Volunteers who stay more than a week at Jatun Sacha don't work on Fridays, there's usually some fun activity planned. It's also when many of them go into town for the weekend, and enjoy hot showers and internet before returning to work on Monday. Since Friday was our last day at Jatun Sacha, we caught a taxi into town with other volunteers, dropped off our bags at La Casa de Nelly, and then joined everyone for the day's activity. Cab fare was not included today, it was split between all the volunteers, which meant trying to remember where the hell I had put my change...good to always be prepared.
This Friday's activity was snorkeling in La Lobería, a beach with plenty of sea lions. Due to several last minute changes in plans, plus me being clueless, I didn't even realize we were snorkeling until...we rented snorkels and wetsuits ($10 total for masks, flippers, and wetsuit). A little unfortunate that I didn't bring my underwater camera as a result, since there were turtles, sea lions, and gorgeous fish in clear water. Definitely a great snorkeling site!
Volunteers who stay more than a week at Jatun Sacha don't work on Fridays, there's usually some fun activity planned. It's also when many of them go into town for the weekend, and enjoy hot showers and internet before returning to work on Monday. Since Friday was our last day at Jatun Sacha, we caught a taxi into town with other volunteers, dropped off our bags at La Casa de Nelly, and then joined everyone for the day's activity. Cab fare was not included today, it was split between all the volunteers, which meant trying to remember where the hell I had put my change...good to always be prepared.
This Friday's activity was snorkeling in La Lobería, a beach with plenty of sea lions. Due to several last minute changes in plans, plus me being clueless, I didn't even realize we were snorkeling until...we rented snorkels and wetsuits ($10 total for masks, flippers, and wetsuit). A little unfortunate that I didn't bring my underwater camera as a result, since there were turtles, sea lions, and gorgeous fish in clear water. Definitely a great snorkeling site!
Waves!
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The pattern of this seaweed stuck out to me.
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We snorkeled here. Water was calm and clear, and the marine life was gorgeous.
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Obligatory tourist photo before snorkeling.
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Behind the beach.
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Gorgeous beach.
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Sea lions.
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They walk funny.
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For lunch, our volunteer coordinator had brought bread along with tuna, jam, and cream cheese, and mayonnaise...but no utensils whatsoever. We got pretty creative, like using the lid of a peach juice carton to spread jam onto bread. I chewed and swallowed sand that had gotten into my tuna sandwich, but it still tasted nice.
Picnic on the beach, where I swallowed sand with my tuna and cream cheese sandwich.
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Finches.
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We had free time in the afternoon, so we went to the Interpretation Center and Frigate Bird Hill. The Interpretation Center is primarily educational, with several posters describing the history, ecology, biology, and people of the Galapagos Islands. Right next to the Interpretation Center is the trail to Frigate Bird Hill (Cerro Tijeretas), a hike with stunning views of the coastline. Punta Carola, a beach where sea lions hang out, is also along the trail.
Interpretation Center
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Frigate Bird Hill Trail
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Frigate Birds on Frigate Bird Hill
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Gorgeous Coast
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Blue-footed Booby
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Sea lions on Punta Carola beach
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Further down on Punta Carola, had to walk around an angry sea lion to get here
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Charles Darwin statue, unfortunately it's a bit dark
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Lighthouse and sunset
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More gorgeous coast, looking down from Frigate Bird Hill
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Looking down on a trail we'd hiked
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Puerto Baquerizo Moreno as it lights up at night
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So the trail closes at 6pm and...my friend and I got back at 6:20pm. We needed to go through the Interpretation Center to exit the area, which was locked. We knocked, and a staff member opened the door for us, thus sparing us the need to do something illegal to get out. Here is my open apology for coming back after 6pm, I'm sorry!
Afterwards, we looked for a place to eat dinner and wandered into an elementary school festival, celebrating some anniversary of the school. We ate rice, beans, and barbeque chicken - slowest service EVER, the vendor ignored us for a good 10 minutes - and watched the students' performances. For one act, children dressed as Disney princes and princesses danced to Katy Perry's Firework...soooo adorable! No, this isn't particularly specific to the Galapagos or Ecuador, but it was nice to just see locals go about their daily lives, and join their party. I suppose this is the philosophy of Lead Adventures, and we definitely wouldn't have done this on a traditional Galapagos cruise. Overall, this was just a great ending to a week of volunteering on San Cristobal Island :).
Afterwards, we looked for a place to eat dinner and wandered into an elementary school festival, celebrating some anniversary of the school. We ate rice, beans, and barbeque chicken - slowest service EVER, the vendor ignored us for a good 10 minutes - and watched the students' performances. For one act, children dressed as Disney princes and princesses danced to Katy Perry's Firework...soooo adorable! No, this isn't particularly specific to the Galapagos or Ecuador, but it was nice to just see locals go about their daily lives, and join their party. I suppose this is the philosophy of Lead Adventures, and we definitely wouldn't have done this on a traditional Galapagos cruise. Overall, this was just a great ending to a week of volunteering on San Cristobal Island :).
Adorable children dressed as frogs, maybe
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Disney princes and princesses, dancing to Katy Perry's Firework
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