Alright this is it! I'm taking a quick break from my packing to leave a quick update. Tomorrow I will be heading to Guayaquil, Ecuador... a port city on the Pacific where I will be getting on a plane to leave for the GALAPAGOS early on Sunday!! The whole planning process for this cruise has gone so quickly I cannot believe that I will be there in less than two days. It is unreal.
We will be aboard the Rumba Yacht, a small 10-passenger cruise ship. I'm traveling with three other students/friends from the HECUA program: Torrey, Emily, & Chris. The cruise has a 5 day itinerary that looks like the following:
Sunday 11/1: Baltra, Playa Las Bachas
Monday 11/2: Calleta Tortuga Negra, Santa Fe Island
Tuesday 11/3: Puerta Suárez, Española Island
Wednesday 11/4: Corona del Diablo, Punta Cormorant, Floreana Island
Thursday 11/5: Los Gemelos, Charles Darwin Scientific Station
On Thursday we will return to Guayaquil and then spend the remainder of our "free week" beach hopping along the coast, mainly staying in the coastal city of Montañita. We don't have a specific plan, but that's true Latin American fashion, right? We seem to be acclimating culturally :-)
I promise, as I have promised, and will promise to take TONS of photos, or at least however many I can fit on my memory card... Keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the week. Minimal seasickness would be appreciated!
Besos,
Eliza
The following photos are from our last HECUA field-trip to Olmedo, an Afro-Ecuadorian community on the Pacific coast in the province of Esmeraldas, near Colombia. (October 22-25)
Visiting the Mangroves (the coolest part of this ecosystem is definitely the roots/bottom parts of the tree, and guess who didn't get a good picture of that? I guess you'll have to google it!)
We take a lot of boat rides on these trips. We wore these neon orange life vests to visit a neighboring community-- as if being the only non-Afro-Ecuadorians people didn't make us stand out enough.
Being on the coast, there was a TON of seafood. I'm not such a fan, so I was sent to the segregated sick/vegetarian table. Definitely an experience-- don't think I could go veg full time.
Our final night in Olmedo was the community's largest festival of the year, this included a pagent for the young girls also one for the teens to be crowned Miss Olmedo, and extremely loud music that literally could be clearly heard throughout the entire community the entire night. Needless to say, we didn't sleep very much!
Visiting the Mangroves (the coolest part of this ecosystem is definitely the roots/bottom parts of the tree, and guess who didn't get a good picture of that? I guess you'll have to google it!) 
We take a lot of boat rides on these trips. We wore these neon orange life vests to visit a neighboring community-- as if being the only non-Afro-Ecuadorians people didn't make us stand out enough.
Being on the coast, there was a TON of seafood. I'm not such a fan, so I was sent to the segregated sick/vegetarian table. Definitely an experience-- don't think I could go veg full time.
Our final night in Olmedo was the community's largest festival of the year, this included a pagent for the young girls also one for the teens to be crowned Miss Olmedo, and extremely loud music that literally could be clearly heard throughout the entire community the entire night. Needless to say, we didn't sleep very much!
Ah! Love the pics! Can't wait for the ones from the cruise/trip/beach week!!!!!!!!!!!
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