Swimming with the Flightless

Clattering in a rickety pickup truck through the dark, sandy streets of Puerto Villamil I struggled to keep my eyes open. It was four in the morning in the Galapagos Islands, and I had woken up just minutes before. As my eyelids sunk lower and lower, the truck motored its way towards the port, occasionally…

Exploring Seymour Norte

A desolate, flat island baking under the equatorial sun, Seymore Norte is home to large nesting populations of blue-footed boobies and great frigatebirds and not much else. Covered in a tangle of brush and dotted with the occasional opuntia cactus, the island itself is not much to look at. Enter the island’s feathered inhabitants however, and…

An Isabelaño Day

Sitting here on a hammock outside of my classroom it’s amazing how normal this feels – the flutter of wings as a yellow warbler builds its nest beside me, the faint sound of ocean waves from across the street and the occasional babble of Spanish. I could’ve been living here on Isabela for months rather…

Con los lobos

We were ushered into the water with little ceremony – “The sea lions are over there, the sharks are over there.” Though the words were anticlimactic, nothing could diminish my excitement. It was my first full day in the Galapagos and I was about to swim with sea lions. I adjusted my mask, and stepped…

The Beginning – Santa Cruz Adventures

Grey sand and looming cacti weren’t the welcome I pictured upon my arrival into the Galapagos, but I was far from disappointed. If anything, that welcome made it apparent that the Galapagos were more than the stereotypical islands with white sand beaches and palm trees – they were unique. I arrived at the islands via…

Into Namibia

I first glimpsed Africa through a minute airplane window two seats and an aisle away. A irritable woman guarded the small pane of glass and matched each of my curious glances through it with pointed glares back in my direction. I didn’t care. It would take more than a few annoyed looks to diminish the excitement…