Ecuador was beyond amazing. Now looking back on it, almost seven months later, it stays with me the most. I hope to get back there some day, but let me explain my days and let you all decide for yourselves.

Day 1- I was up at 0630 to watch the final tie up after pulling into port, which was not easy because I was up until 0300 the night before. I ate breakfast outside at 0645, which is normal for me, with the three girls I would be getting off the ship with that morning. There was a shuttle from the gangway to the city center which was really nice because it was a 35-minute drive so that would’ve been expensive. We decided on taking the 0900 shuttle which got us to the center around 0945. We wandered through Parque Seminario, also known as iguana park, for a little while before we headed to a coffee shop to grab something and use the wifi. I had a Power Chai Tea Latte Frozen, which was essentially a blended chai tea with protein, but it was really good; I was quite happy with it.

Once we finished there, we headed toward a market, even though we didn’t really know where it was. We walked past the Guayaquil sign which was decorated for Christmas. It was super cool and of course we had to stop to take pictures with it. Then we continued on our way, kind of along the water. We came to a few different vendors set up and looked around a bit before we found the market a little further away. We wandered through for a while, shopping and looking around. I wanted to be back on the ship by 1400, which meant that we had to hop on the 1300 shuttle, so me and one other girl headed back to the shuttle.

After a makeshift lunch of an apple and a granola bar, it was time to meet my field program trip since it was almost 1430. We were going to be learning about the New Year’s Eve Papier-mâché tradition where these “statues” are created in all sized from very small, like less than six inches, to huge, like actual statues. Once they are created, everyone writes what they want to leave behind in the new year and sometimes the statue represents that too, then they burn them both. We had a really small group which was actually pretty nice. After about a half an hour drive to get to the first place to look at these, we were immediately bombarded by the press.

Apparently, Semester at Sea being in Guayaquil was a big deal. When the gangway had first opened in the morning, there were some people with news cameras to record it all. This continued into our field program. We had people taking photos of us just standing, looking around, and talking. It was a slightly uncomfortable situation because you would look away from one camera and right into another and they were all up in our personal space. The one guy in my group was interviewed by a newspaper, and since he spoke Spanish, it took a little while because the interviewer was more comfortable asking more questions and conversing. At the same time, I was pulled aside to talk to news broadcaster. My interview only consisted of a few questions which I was thankful for since talking in front of a camera, or even people in general, tends to make me nervous. After that, another gentleman asked me to take a photo with the Papier-mâché figures and as soon as he started, about five other people started taking pictures/filming too. This went on for about two minutes before I was able to walk away. We moved to a new location in order to have a chance to help make one of these figures, but the press still followed. We had police around us at the place to manage some of the traffic, but even passersby would stop and watch us.

It was an interesting process creating these because there was a fiber glass mold which then was covered in plastic so we could put the Papier-mâché on it and be able to remove it with a little more ease once it dried. The figure we actually got to Papier-mâché was not the one we got to paint because it takes about two days to dry. After painting it with some paint that dried surprisingly fast, it was time to carry out the tradition.

We were each given a sheet of blank paper to write down what we wished to leave behind and “burn” so to say. Then, with the help of paint thinner, we set out statue on fire and tossed in out wishes. After that, it was time to go and we left almost straight after we burned it; it may not even have finished burning.  The police followed us all over while we drove and looked at some of the really big ones. They stopped once we said we were heading back to the ship.  Once back on, I showered, ate, and just relaxed for the rest of the night.

Day 2- My field program to the Galapagos met at 0900. We had the smallest group out of the three Island Hopping groups, but that I think that made it more fun. Plus, we spent a lot of time with the other groups. We left for the Guayaquil airport around 0930 and arrived about 45 minutes later. After a little down time, with the six other field programs heading to the Galapagos, we boarded around 1200 and after a short flight into central time zone, we arrived around 1300 to San Cristobal. We ate at a local restaurant (all the restaurants on the islands are local) where we had a choice of fish, shrimp, or chicken. I had grilled fish with a mango sauce, and it was excellent. The place had outdoor seating and it was a great introduction to the great food we would be getting.

After we finished lunch, we headed to Frigatebird Hill and Carola Beach with a quick walk through the Interpretation Center. We started on the walk to the lookout. The flora there was very interesting. It reminded me a bit of the desert, but there were a lot of leafless, almost white trees which had an enchanting and kind of haunting vibe. The lookout was spectacular. We could see Kicker Rock where we would be snorkeling the next day. The water was absolutely beautiful and below you could see a set of steps down to the water where sea lions were laying out. Once we finished soaking in the view, we headed for the beach where insane amounts of sea lions were laying out and swimming. The baby ones were absolutely adorable, but the sound they made was not as cute. After some time enjoying the sea lions from afar, we headed back to the hotel before heading to dinner.

Again, I had fish with a very sweet tropical sauce that was excellent. Like other field programs, once we finished dinner, we were free so a few of us found a local place to hang for a bit. This was so fun because I spent the night talking to two people I really hadn’t talked to before, but I had briefly met in the first port of the voyage. After an hour or so there, we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.

Day 3- We were up around 0630 for breakfast because we had to leave by 0730 to head out to Kicker Rock. It was about an hour boat ride, but it was amazing. The vastness of the ocean and the beauty of the shore line made it seem shorter. After arrival, we had a short safety briefing and go into our gear we had been fitted for the night before. We started off snorkeling around one side of the rock. The water below us was breath taking, and I mean truly breath taking. There was so much marine life below us, I was in awe. At one point, we saw about six sea turtles all in one area. Once we had swam a distance around the rock, we entered a small canal. With a wall on either side, it became wavier, but still manageable and fun. Our guide could dive down to the bottom here and a few of us became curious and wanted to do the same. He said that as you go down and feel the pressure build in your head and ears, you hold your nose and blow out to “pop your ears” and relieve the pressure. We started doing this and eventually a few of us could go at least halfway down. Not only was the fauna amazing, but so was the flora. There were so many different plants and “mosses” on the rock wall. In one spot, there was a red starfish chilling in the mix. Our guide pointed out a small shark at the ocean floor. Explaining everything I saw is impossible and to somehow use words to describe the beauty of it all would be wishful thinking. It’s one of those things in order to understand, you have to see it yourself.

After about two hours of snorkeling, which flew by, we headed back to our little boat to go to an island for beach time and lunch. It was only about a half an hour ride to Puerto Grande beach where we would have a wet landing after eating lunch on the boat. We had made our selections the day before and I decided to have fish, which was excellent might I add. While eating, there was another boat of SASers nearby having their beach time. A few of them jumped off their boat and swam over to ours which was fun. Once we were done, we all took a small boat to shore and setting our stuff down before a few of us went on a short walk with the guide. We saw a cool wet land that was left over from a Tsunami that the island got hit with as a reaction of hitting elsewhere; otherwise wetlands don’t really form. We had additional beach time to lay out, swim, or in my case, nap. Time seemed to fly because I didn’t think I had really passed out and next thing I knew it was time to leave. A few people who were already in the water swam back to the boat, but the rest of us hopped on the small boat in turns to get back on.

We had an hour ride back which was just as beautiful and probably more peaceful than the ride out had been. I think it may be because we, or at least I, tend to notice more things as we lose it, I mean, it’s appreciated more. Once we got back, we were free to be on our own. A few others and I brought our stuff back to the hotel and then proceeded to head out and do a little shopping before finding a cool sushi place with balcony seating for dinner. Once we finished our very long and relaxed dinner, we headed out for a while to hang out before calling it a night.

Day 4- The next day we were up and needed to have eaten by 0630 so we could leave then to head to the dock for our boat ride to Santa Cruz. It was about an hour and a half ride that I, along with most of the rest of the group, slept through. Once we arrived in Santa Cruz, we were headed to the highlands. After an hour drive, we were at El Chato where we would be walking the paths of the tortoise farm. These tortoises were huge, and quite old. We walked. though a tunnel that had been formed by lava, which was really cool. We had about an hour or so tour before heading back to the main building for lunch. It was a buffet style meal which was very tasty.

We then hopped back on the bus for another thirty minutes to Tortuga Bay with a half an hour walk to follow. It wasn’t the sunniest of days, but it was warm enough to be comfortable. The beach was so pretty; I think it would be considered a white sand beach. There were black aquatic iguanas laying all over which was a change from anything we had seen before. The part where trail comes out isn’t an area of the beach that is swimmable according to our guide so we had to had to walk another fifteen minutes about to reach where we could. Most of us just laid around and chilled for two and a half hours we were there. About half way through, another group of SASers showed up so. It was nice to get to hang out with them too.

Once our time at the beach was up, we were informed that instead of having our scheduled free time, we would have our cooking display dinner that night and free time the following.

At the hotel, we were given about an hour before we had to meet to head to our dinner. I showered and took a power nap. At the start they did some of the food prep in front of us, but not a lot. I had a blackberry juice with my meal, and it was so, so good; probably one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. We had ceviche for an appetizer and man was it amazing. I had never tried it before and I was very, very pleasantly surprised. Between the girl next to me, Audrey, and I, we finished about four both seafood and vegetarian ones that people didn’t want and they were all excellent. Our dinner was an assortment of seafood, which was also very good. Our dessert was a little milk-based dessert that was also quite delicious. Overall, the whole meal was a ten out of ten. We were then free to go off on our own, so I did a little shopping with a few other girls as were wandered back to the hotel. Then I caught the end of the Bears Cowboys game and fell asleep watching that.

Day 5- I was up for breakfast around 0815 because we were leaving the hotel around 0900 to take a short boat ride to a beach known as German Beach. While there, we had a few different activities planned. My group started off with beach/snorkel time. There were a couple aquatic iguanas that got in the water with us and plenty of colorful fish. We had about forty-five minutes doing that before we switched and hopped into some kayaks to head towards Punta Estrada to check it out. We paddled past some mangroves which were cool, but the real site to behold was the cliff. There were so many iguanas on the rocks nearby and we saw plenty of birds, including blue-footed boobies. The water was so blue and everything about the nature was astonishing. We had a little time to take it in before we headed back. My partner and I were a dynamic duo in the tandem kayaks and just cruised back to the beach.

Once we pulled the kayaks onto shore, we grabbed our snorkeling gear and headed for Las Grietas to swim between some lava walls. It wasn’t too far of a walk, maybe twenty minutes. The canal like structure was so cool. Along with the one guy and six girls I was with, I made my way down the stairs to set our stuff down, slip on our snorkel masks, and head to the end the dock to jump in. On the count of three, another Pi Phi and I jumped in. The water was a little chilly, but we adjusted quickly. It was so blue and there were a ton of fish below us which were cool to see. Again, we were diving down and seeing how deep we could go. We had about twenty minutes of swimming around before we hopped out and started our trek back.

As soon as we hit the beach, we grabbed our stuff and headed back to the shuttle boat that had brought us there. We then went directly to lunch where I had more ceviche (amazing), and a white fish roll thing and some fig dish for dessert. In all, it was another exquisite meal. We headed back to our hotels after and laid low for maybe forty-five minutes before leaving to walk to the Charles Darwin Station.

Here, we got a short description of what the they have been doing with breeding tortoises there. It was crazy to see how they go from being itty bitty to giant things. I thought the babies were a lot cuter than the adults, naturally. We got to walk around a little on our own through the two museums on site and then we were free to go.

I hung out with the same group of girls I had the night before, plus one. We went back to the hotel first to get stuff for the night, then headed out to get dinner for the night. Our first stop of the night: an acai place. Now, I don’t think I’ve ever had an acai bowl before and it was definitely one of the best things I’ve ever had. After we finished there, we headed to another restaurant for actually food. I had a truffle risotto and it was also unbelievably good. Then we went out to do some shopping and ended up at a local artists shop. She was from England and she was so cool. She told us her story about moving to the Galapagos and it was so interesting. We spent a little time there before heading out to keep exploring. We found our self at a local tattoo place that so many SASers were at getting tattoos and piercings. One of the girls I was with was debating it, so we left for a little bit to give her some time to think about it. We went back to the same restaurant we had eaten at early to chill at the bar for a while and I think one of my favorite moments of the trip was singing “Gimme! Gimme!” by ABBA at the bar. We then headed back to the tattoo place where we hung for a bit and left one of the girls with other SASers before walking around a bit longer and calling it a night.

Day 6- We were up early for breakfast between 0600 and 0700 so we could leave by 0700 to go check out the Twin Craters before heading to the airport at 0800 to catch our flight back to Guayaquil. The Twin Craters were amazing. I had no idea what they were before I saw them. They were so deep, and it was foggy out, so it made them a little harder to see, but I think that added to the natural beauty. We were only supposed to be able to see one, but we hurried enough and were able to see both. Then we hopped back on bus to make the short drive to the airport. We had a little down time at the airport, but it was relatively small, but that was okay because it gave us all a chance to relax.

Around 1030, we boarded our plane and arrived in Guayaquil around 1330. Once we grabbed our stuff, we hopped on a bus and got to the port right around 1500. I stayed on the ship once I got on because I wanted shower and grab food and I knew it would be a one-way gangway before I finished that. Plus, with the extra time I was able to call my family.

Ecuador was such an amazing port. The Galapagos was almost like its own secluded world filled with beauty and a respect for nature. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

I apologize for taking over six months to post this. The end of the voyage was crazy busy and trying to make all the final moments count. Then, once I was back, I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy. It had felt like my entire world had collapsed on me. After a few months of struggling, I found real happiness in my current world and I’m doing great. I will make a post later about adjusting to life and coming back after I get my post on Costa Rica up.

Thank you for understanding!

With Bated Breath,

                        Abby Lynn

P.S. Happy Fourth everyone!