Baylor in Galápagos 2023

Hey everyone! Marielle and Tyler here with our final excursion blog (sad face)  Today we left the hotel around 9 AM to visit Los Gemelos and El Chato Ranch. The Gemelos are two giant sink holes formed by the collapse of volcanic chambers. They are filled with tons of greenery and vegetation, along with a variety of bird species. Sometimes, you can see the Vermillion Flycatcher - a bright, red, finch-like bird. However, they are endangered due to introduced species, such as feral cats.  Our next stop was El Chato Ranch, which is a tortoise farm, where the Galapagos Tortoises roam free in the lush greens, grazing along, and taking things one slow step at a time. The ranch is also home to many cattle, along with cattle egrets! It was so interesting watching these creatures live together peacefully. As we took a stroll through the farm, we took many pictures of the dome shaped giants, while making sure to avoid stepping in tortoise poo. We were also able to witness the underground lava cav

 (Floreana Mockingbird)  (Española Mockingbird)  (Genovesa Mockingbird) (San Cristóbal Mockingbird) When people think about Charles Darwin, and evolution, the first animal that comes to mind is the finches. Galapagos finches, also known as Darwin's finches, are a group of small birds that make up 18 species on the islands. Each species has a different size beak, and the different beaks are utilized in different ways. The finch receives credit for being the main animal that inspired Darwin for his Theory of Evolution - how organisms evolve over generations through the inheritance of physical or behavioral traits. The finch is a very cool animal, but it was actually the Galapagos Mockingbird that inspired Darwin! Darwin noticed very small details between the mockingbird found on the mainland, and the one found on the Galapagos. In addition to this, he also noticed differences between the mockingbirds of the different islands. There are four different species of mockingbirds on the is

We know that our quick encounter with the Galapagos penguin was mentioned previously, but today, we wanted to go into a little more detail about these cool little birds! The Galapagos penguin is endemic to the islands and is the only species of penguin that can be found in the northern hemisphere. They are also one of the smallest penguin species, making them even cuter. These birds love to eat fish that reside in cold water, so they like to spend their time where the Humboldt and Cromwell currents meet and create cold, deep waters. When we were snorkeling, our guide Ariana told us that the little black spots on the penguins' stomachs are similar to human fingerprints. Each penguin has a unique pattern of spots, so if you take pictures of the penguins, you can tell which ones you have seen before! I think we are speaking for the group when we say that the penguins were one of our favorite animals we have seen on this trip. Unfortunately, these birds are endangered, with only about

Hi guys, it's Marielle and Tyler!  Today, we woke up bright and early to start our hike to the Sierra Negra and El Chico Volcanoes. Isabella and Fernandina were actually formed recently due to volcanic activity from these volcanoes! On this hike, we saw many different types of insects, birds, flowers, and lots of cacti! The hike was 10 miles long, and took about 4 hours for our group to explore the volcanoes in total. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious lunch after lots of physical activity at a local Ecuadorian farm called Campo Duro. We then decided to relax at the beach located right across from our hotel, taking in the scenic ocean of Isabela island one last time before we leave early in the morning tomorrow.  According to a legend, if you ate a guava fruit from the Galápagos Islands, you are either going to stay in the islands forever or visit again in the future. We all loved Isabela island so much that we ate a guava fruit we found during our hike, in hopes of us visiting the

  Hey everyone it’s only Cole today, Diego isn’t feeling too well. Today we spent more time on the ocean than we did on land. We started the day early traveling from Santa Cruz to Isabela island, which took two and half hours. This boat ride was much better than the last one because no one felt sick. Once we landed on Isabela, we ate some breakfast and then started our excursions. We took another boat ride to underwater caves on Isabela and went snorkeling and hiking. We got to see black tip sharks, massive pacific sea turtles, white tip sharks, penguins, and BLUE FOOTED BOOBIES! While there weren’t that many penguins, they were definitely the highlight of the excursion. After snorkeling and hiking on top of the sea tunnels, we came back to the hotel. While most of us passed out, some of us walked down the beach strand and visited the local shops. We ended the day at a restaurant on the beach called El Faro, which served us delicious local food. We’re excited for our next excursion tom

Many groups of islands, such as Hawaii and Maldives, form long chains of islands springing up one after another. Other groups of islands, such as the Galápagos Islands, create a cluster of islands, forming no distinct line. So, why are the Galápagos in a seemingly random cluster, and not in a neat, little line?  Groups of islands are most often created by volcanic activity--volcanoes erupting underwater and creating masses of land rising from the ocean's floor. Most communities of islands are created from one hot-spot. For example, Hawaii only needed one hot-spot create its long chain of islands. However, this seems nonsensical. How can one volcanic hot-spot lead to the formation of several islands?  This seemingly impossible feat is accomplished by the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates. These plates make up the Earth's outer surface and are constantly--but very slowly--moving. As the plates crawl over a volcanic hot spot, the eruptions bursting through the Earth'

 Hey guys, Tyler and Marielle are back with another blog post! Today, we will discuss our recent excursions in Santa Cruz. Yesterday, we started off our day with a visit to El Trapiche, a local sugarcane and chocolate plantation. The owner of the farm, Don Adriano, who was taught by his grandparents about sugarcane and cacao cultivation at a young age, gave us an immersive experience to show how sugarcane and cacao are cultivated, harvested, and produced. We were able to try freshly-squeezed sugarcane juice, as well as other delicious products the plantation had to offer, which included coffee beans, Trapuchino (a sweet cacao treat), and, of course, freshly brewed coffee with sugar from the farm. Our group enjoyed learning more about Ecuador's agricultural history and found it particularly interesting how the island of Santa Cruz has a better ability to sustain itself in the case of export issues and problems from the mainland, due to the presence of plantations like El Trapiche, i

     Galapagos has many endemic animals such as Sea Lions and Tortoises, but some species we haven’t talked about yet are the iguanas of Galapagos.  Currently, there are four species of iguanas in the Archipelago: the most prominent of them is the Marine Iguana , found on Isabela, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, and Fernandina Islands; the Pale Land Iguana , restricted to Santa Fe Island; the Yellow Land Iguana  distributed on Fernandina, Isabela, Santa Cruz, North Seymour, South Plaza, Santiago, and Baltra Islands; and the Pink Iguana , a species discovered just a few years ago that inhabits only Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island.  So far we have only seen the Marine Iguanas, which are incredible at camouflaging themselves against the black volcanic rocks that litter the coast of the Galápagos Islands. Can you find the marine Iguana that is camouflaged in the picture of the sea lion? These creatures are very interesting. Marine iguanas are the only reptile species that dives under water to lo

While we love to focus our blogs on all of the fun excursions and activities that we have experienced here in Ecuador, the main reason for our study abroad is research. We have mentioned days filled with research, and I'm sure that many of you parents and grandparents have heard the program described as a health research opportunity. However,  I'm not sure that we have specifically described the purpose of our surveys. Dr. M is specifically interested in the idea of One Health, a subtopic of global health that emphasizes the interactions between humans, animals, and the environment. Specifically, he focuses his research on the anthroponotic transmission of infectious diseases. In simple terms, he is looking at how humans can give diseases to non-human animals. Much of his research has been focused on primates in Asia, but this trip is focused on the animals in the Galápagos, such as sea lions, tortoises, and iguanas. So why is this research so important? There is a distinct lac

Hey guys, Marielle and Tyler here!   Today, let’s talk turtles.  The Galapagos Giant Tortoise is renowned for its massive size and longevity. We are sure some of you may have heard of the passing of Lonesome George back in 2012. He was the last surviving Pinta island tortoise. For Galapagos natives, he is a symbol of their desire to protect and conserve wildlife and nature. In fact, they have his body located here on Santa Cruz! Now, let’s get into some fun facts!  The average lifespan of these infamous land vertebrates is around 150-175 years. Tortoises are also considered pollinators because they don’t fully digest food, rather they excrete it from their bodies to their surrounding environment.  The female tortoise does not always need a mate for reproduction. As they contain an internal sperm stores in the event of having no mate.  Lastly, the Galapagos tortoise has two different kinds of shells tailored to different environments. The saddleback shell is for drier climates and allow

                                        Everyone was up early this morning for our ferry ride at 7 am. We packed into the boat, waved goodbye to the sea lions of San Cristobal, and started our 2 hour ride to Santa Cruz. It was brutal. Some of us are not accustomed to these crazy sea waves. Diego barfed off the boat. The fish ate a tasty breakfast because of him. We finally hit land, after what seemed like 12 hours. We stepped foot on the island, and immediately started exploring. We saw tortoises, of all ages, in the Charles Darwin Research Station. Even got to see a replica of the very famous tortoise, Lonesome George. He was the last of his kind. Many scientist search for a mate for him for 40 years, but none were found. We were gifted free time until dinner. Some of us explored, others napped. Cole and I stopped at some stores to get souvenirs for our family. We saw a lot of cool art, and ended the day with some awesome food.  A couple of obvious differences between this island, San