A ZC-sized Galapagos Adventure: Part 1

It’s here!!! My biggest Zoo Crew (ZC) adventure has FINALLY arrived! On August 11^th, 2018, I was at the airport with my family about to embark on an amazing experience. It took many long months to get here, but all began in December 2017, with an opportunity. 

In case you haven’t read my 4^th blog post, I was in the most amazing zoo volunteer group, called Zoo Crew (ZC) for 4 years, at the Houston Zoo. November-December 2017, I received an email about a possible Zoo Crew opportunity. The opportunity was to either go to the Galapagos for 9 days or to Belize for a week. Based on a survey, the Galapagos was the winner of which trip we were going on. There was a lot of interest from all Zoo Crew, so our leader made an application for the opportunity. What was this opportunity? The opportunity entailed getting to travel to the Galapagos Islands to help with conservation work with an organization there, Ecology Project International. This would be the first ZC International trip. On December 20^th, while I was working on some homeschool work, I remembered something very important. The Zoo Crew Galapagos trip application DUE DATE was on that SAME day at midnight. That afternoon, I, with help from mom, filled out the application. I had a few moments where I thought to myself, “I probably won’t get it, but at least I tried for it”. I was nervous for my odds of getting it, because I knew they were pretty low. However, I’m not a girl who gives up easily.

Well, on December 21^st, while working on some homeschool work, I got an unbelievable email. That email stated that I was 1 of 16 ZC selected to GO on that trip! My focus level went downhill fast, as I was filled with excitement and gratefulness for this miraculous opportunity. There was a lot of packing, and preparation, to do and 8 long months to do it. This trip would be a milestone trip for me because of 3 BIG things.

1) It was on a continent I’ve never explored. 2) It would add a new country to my growing list of countries. 3), It would be my first trip without my family. 

March 25^th, 2018 brought our first Galapagos trip meeting. There we met everyone going on the trip, and one of our Conservation staff leaders, Renee. May 25^th, 2018 brought another Galapagos trip meeting. This time, we met Martha, who’s also on our conservation team. We also got to meet, pet and feed our 3 Galapagos tortoises, who are about 80 years old. There was another trip meeting on August 3^rd  in the evening, where we got a special staff t-shirt and an EPI t-shirt. There was a lot to be done over the next 8 days. The excitement was mounting each day, and every time I thought about it. I was working in Zoo Crew August 10th, and how I focused with a BIG adventure the next day, I still have no clue. 

After I got home, I began to finalize my packing. I wasn’t going there alone, as a little friend was coming with me. CNA readers, meet Duffito! Duffito is a 12in pre-dressed Duffy the Disney bear, who’s always ready to explore. His name translates to “little Duffy” in Spanish. After deciding that Duffito was coming, I started charging anything that needed to be charged. I also set my clothes out for the next day, which consisted of my EPI shirt, comfy travel pants, my hiking boots, and a wide-rimed hat. My mom let me borrow one of her wide-rimed hats for sun protection (I have eczema on the top of my head and it can get burned and irritated quickly, so hats have been perfect for when if I’m staying outside for a long period of time). After a while, it was time to go to bed. I was too excited to sleep, but I eventually drifted off. I wanted to feel well rested for tomorrow’s island-sized endeavor.

Finally, Saturday came, and Galapagos-sized excitement filled me up, especially when realizing that THE day was finally here. After a family breakfast, at one of our favorite breakfast places, we made a quick stop at home to grab my bags (my backpack, camera backpack and a tote bag), Duffito, hopped in Mom’s car and we were on our way. About an hour later, we were at Houston’s Bush International Airport. I was surprised to know that I was the first girl to arrive, as all the boys were already there, and excited to see another ZC coming. After putting my stuff down, I showed Colleen (our leader) a few documents, including my passport, that she needed to see. My mom and dad told her about a few things regarding me (my medicines and health stuff), and she assured them that she’d take good care of me. I said goodbye to my family and talked with the boys and Colleen, and Melanie (our other leader). About 45 minutes later, we took a group picture, breezed through security and were ready to get on the plane. After a plane ride to Atlanta and a layover, we were back on a plane to Quito, Ecuador. I was too excited to sleep on that overnight flight. A big adventure was on the horizon and I couldn’t wait to see what was in store. 

We arrived safely in Ecuador late that night, and a bus picked us up. We were all pretty tired and ready to see our hotel. After we got there, we unloaded our stuff and got placed in our rooms. I was pretty tired after everything so I told someone to wake me up in the morning, and I went to sleep quickly. A few hours later, someone woke me up, and I got ready for the day. That day was another flying day as we were flying to Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands. The ride over was a little different, because once we touched down the first time, we were up in the air again. After our second landing we got our stuff, met our guides, Martin (Mar-teen) and Ivan (E-vahn), and headed to a bus. Along the way, they provided us with some yummy pears, which I ate gladly. We didn’t eat much on the flight so we were all a little hungry. Some of the other travelers were sleeping, but 3 ladies were awake (Colleen, Melanie and yours truly) and looking around town. We stopped at our Air B&B to drop our stuff off and then walked to a nearby pier. We were quickly greeted by an iconic Galapagos island local, The Marine Iguana.   

When we got to the ocean-side pier, we played a fun game to get to know one another. I have worked with a few Zoo Crew during some of my shifts, but I didn’t know everyone that well. The game was that you had to say your name, an animal and do a motion/sound to go with your animal. The challenge of the game was you had to remember EVERY person’s name, animal and sound/motion that went before you. Colleen, Melanie, Martin and Ivan played the game with us, which added some extra fun. Any guesses on my animal and sound/motion? After the fun game, we walked to another pier that had a small fish market. You know what else was there? Galapagos Sea Lions. They were so adorable and were in pretty interesting places just having a snooze and living life. One sea lion was even laid-out snoozing on a bench. We went to explore a beach and got a jumping picture of the group (that we got on our first try. My family and I did this in Spain, and it was full of bloopers), which was very fun. Then we went back to the pier, that night, and saw a small shark and a Galapagos Sea Lion playing cat-and-mouse with some small fish. That was a pretty entertaining sight to watch before heading to dinner. Dinner was a delicious pasta carbonara dish (which is making me hungry now), and pears drizzled with chocolate for dessert (which is also making me hungry). Yum! The pears we didn’t eat earlier were used for the desert. 

Coming when the tide rolls in, Part 2 of the most mazing adventure.