Baylor in Galápagos 2023

Unfortunately, the day has come. This morning we flew out of Santa Cruz and came back to mainland Ecuador. Tomorrow we have a full day of travel and we will arrive back in the States around midnight. So, sadly, we thought this would be a good time to sign off. This adventure has been the trip of a lifetime and has allowed us to experience so many new opportunities that we never thought were possible. All of us have thoroughly enjoyed sharing our adventures and knowledge we have gained on this trip with all of you. Thank you to all the family members and friends who made this trip possible, we cannot express our gratitude enough! Additionally, we wanted to thank Dr. Muehlenbein for being an amazing professor and for organizing this whole experience. This was actually the first time this specific study abroad trip was conducted. So--in a way--we were the test subjects to see how smoothly the trip would run. Thanks to Dr. M's careful planning, the trip went wonderfully and we could no

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